A will is shorter and simpler than most people expect. The hard part is not the paperwork; it is making five decisions. Here they are, in the order we take clients through them.
1Who will carry out your wishes
Your executors gather in everything you own, pay any debts and tax, and pass the rest to the people you have chosen. Most people name one or two family members or close friends. You can name up to four, and it is wise to name a reserve in case your first choice cannot act.1
Choose people who are organized and who get on with each other. Being an executor can take a year or more, and it is easier for someone who lives nearby.
If your affairs are complicated, for example if you own a business or a property abroad, you can name a lawyer as an executor, on their own or alongside a family member.
2Who looks after your children
If you have children under 18, your will is the place to name a guardian: the person who would bring them up if both parents died. Without one, a court decides.
Talk to that person first. Ask whether they would be willing, and think about where your children would live, where they would go to school and how the money you leave would be managed for them.
3Who receives what
This is the part people think of first. You can leave particular things to particular people, such as a ring, a car or a sum of money, and then leave everything else, called the residue, in shares.
Think about what happens if someone you name dies before you. A good will says who receives their share instead, so nothing is left undecided.
Gifts to charity
Gifts to charity are free of inheritance tax, and leaving a tenth or more of your estate to charity can lower the rate of tax on the rest.2
4Whether to use a trust
A trust holds money back for a while instead of handing it over at once. Parents often use one so that children receive their share at 25, not 18. Others use a trust to protect a share for someone who is vulnerable.
Trusts are useful, but they are not always needed. We will tell you plainly if a simple will does the job.
5Your funeral wishes
You can record whether you would like a burial or a cremation, and any wishes for the service. These wishes are not legally binding, but executors almost always follow them, and it saves your family from guessing.
Once you have made these five decisions, we draft the will, go through it with you line by line and arrange the signing. It must be signed in front of two independent witnesses.3 We keep the original in our strongroom, free of charge.
A single will is a fixed fee of $250, mirror wills $400. Book a free 30-minute call
Notes
- In England and Wales, up to four executors can apply to deal with an estate at one time. ↩
- The rate falls from 40% to 36% on the part of the estate above the tax-free allowance. ↩
- A witness should not receive anything under the will, and neither should their husband, wife or civil partner, or that gift can fail. ↩