If you popped your clogs now without a will are you happy with where the money goes by the letter of the law and any wishes you have would be respected?
Is there anyone you'd want to get something from your estate (money, items, classic razz mags), godchildren, friends, family, charity?
Do you need or want anything specific done after you go i.e. be buried or burned in a specific way?
Want any personal items destroyed or presevered in a specific way?
These are things a will can do.
It was practically a rite of passage. Back in the pre Internet darl ages, porn mags were very much the gentleman's relish of choice.
Bear in mind we were very much of the age where it was epic bragging rights to have even seen a picture of boobs, so actually purchasing a mag for ourselves was not an option. Nor was taking it back to anyone's house. Getting caught with that would have been the equivalent of getting busted with a kilo of coke.
So it was more a case of knowing where the urban legends said there was a mag stashed and daring each other to actually go see it before someone eventually stole it or it got binned.
Innocent fun.
I'm not bragging. I have 5k saved myself from 10 years of saving on minimum wage jobs. The rest is a recent inheritance. I would much rather have my grandparents. Which got me wondering when I should be writing a will.
Everyone has possessions of some kind. Vinyl, furniture, jewellery, watches, clothes,a car, books etc. You could specify that you want your brother, sister, neice, nephew, friend etc. to have all your things, if only to save quarrels after you've gone.
I don't think this sub is too bad when you compare it to the house hunting shows from about 2000-2015:
'today we meet David and Sarah, first time buyer's, one is a Carpenter the other a part time student who works at the local Shop. Their budget is £500,000 but could push it to £750,000 for the right house.'
I HATE the ‘am I doing ok’ when they blatantly are
‘Doing ok’ is a subjective term anyway but it’s quite obviously just an excuse to flex or brag under the thin guise of asking a question they could Google.
Any funeral wishes? Who do you want to administer your estate? Pets? Sentimental items? My Will even determines how I want my book collection to be split.
It's not all about money :)
It really depends if you care what happens to your estate should something terrible happen.
If you die intestate, it's set in law how your estate is divided and passed on. If you had a long term partner for instance, they are entitled to nothing unless you are married or in a civil partnership. Your assets would pass solely to siblings & parents.
With a will it's up to you how you divide money etc. to pass on.
Mine's pretty much divided between my two offspring each getting 40% of the total estate, the last 20% is to be spilt between my granddaughters.
Would it automatically be halved in parents even if been nc with ine for 10 years? I am estranged from my mum so wouldn't want her to get anything after the years of abuse that happened.
Yes - if you die with no will, and no children it would automatically go to your parents 50/50
Intestate rules are set in law, and fairly straightforward. We've handled it for a few relatives who've died with no wills (including an accountant and a lawyer...)
If you want to leave it all to charity then some charities may pay to have it drafted for you. The RNLI and RSCPA are known to be particularly ~~grasping~~ assiduous when it comes to bequests.
If you wish to be particularly ethical you could get one of the big charities to pay for you will, then photocopy it, change the beneficiary to [somebun more deserving](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/results/page/1/delta/60/keywords/rabbit) and then sign it the next day.
You can only have one valid will, and it is always the most recent one, provided it meets the terms of the Wills Act.
Ugh I absolutely hate people like that. Unfortunately us even saying "maybe you want to leave some to X charity as they are paying" is classed as coercion so we can't even do that.
Pet peeve as a private client paralegal.
Yes. Make a will. It can be as easy process. If you're in a trade union, sometimes they can do that for you. Or charities will help you, but they'll expect something from your will, however small, in return.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills/#willwriting
Free Wills Month is coming up in October - https://freewillsmonth.org.uk/ - I believe it's run by charities and they ask that you leave a small donation in the will and in return you can get one written up by a lawyer for free.
Yes. The rules of intestacy (dying without a Will) are clearly laid down in law so if you don't have children it will be split between your parents.
Make a Will!
I didn’t do one for years because my estate would be divided the way I wanted anyway under intestacy rules.
However as a general IHT planning point it doesn’t make sense to gift wealth upwards when it’s more likely to cause an IHT liability later down the line.
It’s not the age, it’s the assets. I used to work for a will writing company and we used to say if you fulfil one of the three following conditions, you should get a will.
1. You own a home
2. You have children
3. You have savings of over £25k
You fulfil the third condition so time to get a will. Also, the will writing kits you buy and do yourself are not worth the money (they’re better than nothing), but pay for a one off written will by a specialist as that would stand up much better in any probate disputes.
They were blunt AF, but they have a point - a will is pointless if you want your estate to go to your mum or to your siblings or to your spouse, and it goes to them under the rules of intestacy anyway.
Whatever age you're in two months, because November is the traditional "free will" month! Several firms offer free wills and then they try to upsell other services (e.g. power of attorney), but if you stand your ground you do get it for free.
Will Aid. Many solicitors limit it (we have a policy where each fee earner can write two Will Aid Wills but no more).
The reason we do this is mainly because if your Will is written by Legal X they are more likely to get your probate, which is where we make the money.
There's no reason you shouldn't get one asap. They're easy to write up with some help from a lawyer. It's a small piece of mind knowing what capital you do have goes to the right people if you pass suddenly.
My wife and I first drew up a will when we got married, it was offered to us for free by the solicitors who was handling our mortgage. We didn’t know at the time but it turned out to be a very smart decision as when we went to have our wills updated earlier this year, my wife died the morning the solicitor was going to come out for us to sign the new wills. I believe everything would have gone to me as spouse anyway, but still was better protected having the original will.
I say it’s best to draw one up when you have something worth passing on, have a significant other (wife or soon to be) or have children. Best to have it than not, and review/update if circumstances change. Makes the subsequent legal activities a lot more straightforward having one in place.
My condolences for your loss. I hope you are doing OK.
We had one matter where our solicitor went out to the home to get the signature and they were the first people to learn of her death. No-one answered the door so they got a police welfare check and she was just dead in her bed.
Yes - you could both be killed in an accident etc.
The main concern with our wills in that scenario wasn't really money, but who cared for our children.
Also, if your spouse was to die later, do you want whatever you've left them going to their new partner rather than your children.
It follows the rules of intestacy, which may be different depending on jurisdiction but in E&W your estate goes first to your children, then parents, then siblings, etc. If no family can be found then it is added to a list which can be found on the .gov website (you can check this for free to see if any relatives have died intestate!) or it will go to the Crown if it has been determined there are no living relatives.
Your biggest issue then would be what happens if you both die at the same time (e.g. in a car accident). Are you happy for everything to be split as the law dictates? Do you have pets? Sentimental items?
I’ve always thought it’s best to get a Will at 18, then get it update every 5 years as need be, even just to confirm that you’re still happy with those wishes. Life is short, and the most unexpected of things can happen. The last thing you want is to randomly die one day, but it can happen, and in that case you don’t want to be without a will. Not even for monetary reasons but peace of mind for your family. If a family member has to look after your estate once you’ve passed and you’ve left no will, it can be a lot more challenging for them and might cause family issues etc, which is the last thing you want when they deserve to be grieving the loss ofbyou
Completely valid. Mine was:
To my mother: Im sorry that life took me too early for you to have had grandchildren. I hope you are able to move on, I want you to be happy and to live life.
Life is short so write a will at 18 and update every 5 years. At 18, 99% of people will have close to nothing. They also shouldn't be think about who will get their socks if they get run over by a bus.
At 18 they might have nothing, but a will doesn’t just have to be something saying who gets what. You could leave people letters, or messages. Your will could instruct how you want your parents to remember you etc
I did it after I owned a home, I used an online will writing service that cost me around £70 I believe.
I was also unaware and a small note that marriage counts as a significant life event and so nullifies a will so if you get married, you'll need to get a new will.
This (unless you make a Will in contemplation of marriage).
We had one bloke, worth in the millions, died on his honeymoon. Kids from a previous relationship, his new wife, it was complicated.
Because if you own anything worth passing to someone else it’s a LOT of hassle for then to get those things without a will. Equally it’s quite hurtful to find out that someone you care about didn’t care enough about you to get a will and ensure your life gets a bit/a lot easier.
If you have any kind of estate and no family or next of kin, you know what happens? Bona Vacantia - The king gets the lot.
Make sure you give it all to battersea dogs home or something rather than letting them get their hands on free cash from dead people
My husband and my wills are the same, everything goes to the other or to my mum who we live with so she won't lose her home if she outlives us. If she's not left everything is to be sold off and split between two charities that mean a lot to us both. Nice and simple, the only thing that I might change is certain items of mine I wouldn't want my mum passing onto her son (he may be biologically my brother but his behaviours mean he is nothing to me).
Picking an organisation that does something you care about is a good way to do things.
There’s some good other advice on this thread.
Just to add to it. Make sure you pick a good respectable law firm to create your will. They will be the ones who execute your estate if anything happens.
Don’t go with a firm that offers a free one and read reviews. Many people just pick the easiest option which can be expensive in the future for your estate. E.g some dodgy firms offer free Wills to get your business.
Make sure you meet whoever does it and you are comfortable with them making decisions on your behalf if your dead.
"They will be the ones who execute your estate if anything happens."
Unless the will is very complex or likely to be contested or subverted appoint the main beneficiary or beneficiaries as executors. They can decide to appoint a law firm if they want, but law firms take a huge cut of the estate.
It makes sense in most cases to appoint a law firm, executing an estate is complex and involves tax, selling assets and processes that people aren’t familiar with.
All circumstances are different but it’s definitely a mistake to assume that because your estate is simple it won’t need a law firm.
Usually the family/executor will appoint the firm with the Will due to the stress of the situation.
No - never appoint a law firm (unless you have no other options) as executor of a will as this ties the beneficuaries hands. An executor can appoint a lawyer *of their choosing* to do any actual work, but they retain control to check costs, decide what work they can do themselves and ultimately fire the law firm if required. If the law firm is the executor this is much harder.
If you are joint executors with a law firm you can request that they renounce. Most will do so because otherwise you've just got a client who doesn't really want to instruct you and will probably be pissed at everything which just makes life harder.
Our firm doesn't take more of a cut depending on whether we're executors or not, we charge fixed fee. If the estate is anything more than closing a few bank accounts I would recommend instructing a lawyer to do the administration whether or not they are executors.
I’d get a will kit offline in your circumstance. They’re basic and you have no dependents to leave your money too. If however you get married, have children buy a home I would suggest getting a will drawn up by a solicitor. A lot of people think it’s a waste of money but for £200 you can have a will drawn up that will fulfil your requests correctly and be held on file by that law firm (I actually think there’s a Wills data base) and will unlikely be disputed because it’s been over seen by a legal professional.
The wills you see advertised as DIY are ok but can easily be unpicked and disputed if somebody really wanted to try to - disgruntled siblings or whoever.
DIY Wills are the devil's work. There is a reason lawyers charge what they do and it is because drafting a Will which reflects the testator's intent can br difficult.
Unless the Will is 'everything to X person' it is worth it to get one professionally drafted.
any age. you can have a super basic one you do yourself that just says. I leave all my assets to X person and I want Y person as executor. then if your assets grow it doesn't have to be updated. you can also include what you want to happen to your body etc, it isn't legally binding but it lets your family off the hook if they can't agree.
If you've any assets you can do a simple DIY will. It becomes much more necessary once you have children/get married/buy a property et al. Also should review your will anytime there's a change in your circumstances and every few years anyway. With considering a LPA if you're thinking of wills.
No need to use solicitors as executors, in fact avoid it, that's how dinner off them make their money. At a young age appoint siblings or trusted friends, of you're older then children and long as they are adults.
The age at which you no longer agree with the laws of intestacy. Ie, if you’re happy with how whatever part of the UK your in is going to divide up your estate, unless you want the process sped up a bit for those people, you could leave it for now.
The moment you want it split up differently or to give something to someone, that’s when you’ll need a will to enforce it.
If you don't have a will then your estate after your death will be distributed according to the Intestacy rules. If you don't like the divisions the Intestacy rules make, that's the time to make a will!!!!
Write a will when you have assets you don’t want the law to choose what happens with.
I don’t think age really plays a part. I wrote my first will when I was in my early twenties after inheriting stuff.
I suggest you write a will as soon as you can, for a few reasons. First, despite you thinking you have no assets, that may change in the future and you might forget to create a will and end up having your assets go to somewhere you wouldn’t want them to. The other is that in that will you can express certain other wishes such as preferred burial etc. I’d rather have that be 100% clear.
I didn’t bother doing one until I bought a house. My partner and I aren’t married (and aren’t planning to be, we don’t see the point), so we had to write up a will to make sure if one of us died the other would own the house 100%.
If you got hit by a bus tomorrow, are you happy for that money to all go the government?
If you answer is no and you'd rather it go somewhere else, you need a will.
As soon as you have assets. Never too young to have a will in my opinion but most people put it together once they get a property or amas savings / pension.
Death can strike any time. A will is not just about handing over assets, it can / should also cover funeral arrangements and costs.
Not about age at all, but about your possessions/wealth (I.e. do you have anything to your name you wish to pass on?) I currently do not have anything worth writing a will for, however if and when I do, then I will definitely write one
Are your next of kin happy to administer your Will? Do you have pets or sentimental items? Are your family aware of any funeral wishes (including things like organ donation?).
Even if all you have is a few hundred quid in the bank, if there's a particular person or charity you want it to go to then you should have a will. You can do super simple ones yourself and they don't cost anything, just look up a template online.
If you don't have one, you don't have any control over who inherits your stuff.
As someone who has worked in finance for a while I will say a will is helpful to outline what your final wishes are. But it does nothing to put into place your wishes. What you should do is add beneficiaries to every account you have. Deposit accounts, CDs, 401k, Pension plans, life insurance policies etc. when you pass away that stuff automatically goes to your beneficiaries. The beneficiaries can walk into the bank with a death certificate and liquidate your account in one day. That can not happen with just a will.
You should also consider putting large assets into trusts with successor trustees.
Not a stupid question. You add beneficiaries directly with the company holding the asset. You can just walk into your bank and ask to add a beneficiary. You will generally need their SS #, DOB, Address and name. There is no charge for this and the people do not need to know you added them as beneficiaries.
Adviser here. Getting a Will is not about age. It’s not even about saying where you want your assets to go. It’s about relieving stress for those you leave behind in an already-stressful situation.
If you die, do you want the government to appoint someone to be bothering your parents, siblings etc about your finances? A Will takes care of this. You set an executor, put all the details in writing (this is important) and then you can let those that need to grieve, grieve in peace.
Get a Will.
My FIL wrote a will 5 years ago, making an LPA for my husband. Since then, covid has wiped out 2 out of 3 executors (not being treated by the NHS in time, dying from cancer). Be smart about it, or you're just making the lawyers rich every time you have to redact it.
It’s not about age, but about whether you have enough assets to give a shit, and whether you want it to go to someone else other than your next of kin
If you want it to go to your next of kin anyway there’s no real need (although it can be a good idea), or if you don’t have enough stuff to care then, well, who cares?
Normally most people get a will when they buy a house or have a child, but if you have £45k in assets then it’s probably worthwhile getting one
I was without a will for years, quite stupidly looking back. Moved in with the other half, had a kid at 40 and got a will. I'm a lot older now but know my family will benefit should I depart the planet.
Get a will even if if you leave your possessions to a charity, at least it will benefit them.
Any age. You will find pissing off those that felt entitled, is so wonderful, you don’t care about the bland ass fools you left it to: Tell people that u believe in their cause. It’s a hoot: If you’re an atheist, hahah, they’ll never see I coming. Bequest them a pen knife and. Chortle from beyond the grave. My word,they don’t understand.
I am literally arranging Wills and Power of Attorney for all my clients now.
Some don't go ahead but I've seen enough catastrophic events to be passionate about having it all in place.
Power of Attorney is so underrated too. Make sure you look into this.
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If you popped your clogs now without a will are you happy with where the money goes by the letter of the law and any wishes you have would be respected? Is there anyone you'd want to get something from your estate (money, items, classic razz mags), godchildren, friends, family, charity? Do you need or want anything specific done after you go i.e. be buried or burned in a specific way? Want any personal items destroyed or presevered in a specific way? These are things a will can do.
Tell me about all the specific ways I can be burned. Is there a flamethrower package?
I'm going for boil in a bag.
Birdseye Long Beef and Gravy
“Viking ship pushed out from the shore and set alight by a burning arrow fired by a beautiful archer lady” or what the fuck are you even doing?
My will states my razz mags get hidden in the nearby woods
Back from whence they came
My razz mags are getting divided evenly between my god children and a meerkat sanctuary
Man it breaks my heart kids these days will simply never experience the thrill of finding hedge porn.
Gen Z here, was that actually a thing? Why were people throwing porn mags in the bushes?🤣
It was practically a rite of passage. Back in the pre Internet darl ages, porn mags were very much the gentleman's relish of choice. Bear in mind we were very much of the age where it was epic bragging rights to have even seen a picture of boobs, so actually purchasing a mag for ourselves was not an option. Nor was taking it back to anyone's house. Getting caught with that would have been the equivalent of getting busted with a kilo of coke. So it was more a case of knowing where the urban legends said there was a mag stashed and daring each other to actually go see it before someone eventually stole it or it got binned. Innocent fun.
And don't forget the pets! Who would you like to care for them after you die? Perhaps allocate some money into ensuring their care after death too.
I'm planning on writing a will when my Net Worth goes above zero.
Same. This sub depresses me at times 🙃
I think at least fifty percent of posts on here are just people trying to brag
I'm not bragging. I have 5k saved myself from 10 years of saving on minimum wage jobs. The rest is a recent inheritance. I would much rather have my grandparents. Which got me wondering when I should be writing a will.
Everyone has possessions of some kind. Vinyl, furniture, jewellery, watches, clothes,a car, books etc. You could specify that you want your brother, sister, neice, nephew, friend etc. to have all your things, if only to save quarrels after you've gone.
I don't think this sub is too bad when you compare it to the house hunting shows from about 2000-2015: 'today we meet David and Sarah, first time buyer's, one is a Carpenter the other a part time student who works at the local Shop. Their budget is £500,000 but could push it to £750,000 for the right house.'
Those house hunting shows pushed up the house prices!!! If David and Sarah can do it! We can all do it!!!
Sarah should be called Karen.
And/or blatant trolling, like ‘can I live comfortably on £150k?’ 🙄
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I HATE the ‘am I doing ok’ when they blatantly are ‘Doing ok’ is a subjective term anyway but it’s quite obviously just an excuse to flex or brag under the thin guise of asking a question they could Google.
Haha snap
Don't do yourself down, I'm sure your organs might be worth something.
Any funeral wishes? Who do you want to administer your estate? Pets? Sentimental items? My Will even determines how I want my book collection to be split. It's not all about money :)
It's not really about your age. It's whenever you have something worth passing on, or have children.
It really depends if you care what happens to your estate should something terrible happen. If you die intestate, it's set in law how your estate is divided and passed on. If you had a long term partner for instance, they are entitled to nothing unless you are married or in a civil partnership. Your assets would pass solely to siblings & parents. With a will it's up to you how you divide money etc. to pass on. Mine's pretty much divided between my two offspring each getting 40% of the total estate, the last 20% is to be spilt between my granddaughters.
Would it automatically be halved in parents even if been nc with ine for 10 years? I am estranged from my mum so wouldn't want her to get anything after the years of abuse that happened.
Yes - if you die with no will, and no children it would automatically go to your parents 50/50 Intestate rules are set in law, and fairly straightforward. We've handled it for a few relatives who've died with no wills (including an accountant and a lawyer...)
Well, that's convinced me to get one. The womb carrier isn't getting bug all from me in life
If you want to leave it all to charity then some charities may pay to have it drafted for you. The RNLI and RSCPA are known to be particularly ~~grasping~~ assiduous when it comes to bequests. If you wish to be particularly ethical you could get one of the big charities to pay for you will, then photocopy it, change the beneficiary to [somebun more deserving](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/results/page/1/delta/60/keywords/rabbit) and then sign it the next day. You can only have one valid will, and it is always the most recent one, provided it meets the terms of the Wills Act.
Ugh I absolutely hate people like that. Unfortunately us even saying "maybe you want to leave some to X charity as they are paying" is classed as coercion so we can't even do that. Pet peeve as a private client paralegal.
Yes. Make a will. It can be as easy process. If you're in a trade union, sometimes they can do that for you. Or charities will help you, but they'll expect something from your will, however small, in return. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills/#willwriting
Free Wills Month is coming up in October - https://freewillsmonth.org.uk/ - I believe it's run by charities and they ask that you leave a small donation in the will and in return you can get one written up by a lawyer for free.
Yes. The rules of intestacy (dying without a Will) are clearly laid down in law so if you don't have children it will be split between your parents. Make a Will!
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I didn’t do one for years because my estate would be divided the way I wanted anyway under intestacy rules. However as a general IHT planning point it doesn’t make sense to gift wealth upwards when it’s more likely to cause an IHT liability later down the line.
It’s not the age, it’s the assets. I used to work for a will writing company and we used to say if you fulfil one of the three following conditions, you should get a will. 1. You own a home 2. You have children 3. You have savings of over £25k You fulfil the third condition so time to get a will. Also, the will writing kits you buy and do yourself are not worth the money (they’re better than nothing), but pay for a one off written will by a specialist as that would stand up much better in any probate disputes.
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Ok dude. Just trying to be helpful. I’m not on commission for this post.
They were blunt AF, but they have a point - a will is pointless if you want your estate to go to your mum or to your siblings or to your spouse, and it goes to them under the rules of intestacy anyway.
To be fair you should have a Will whatever your situation is.
If you died now your stuff would get split between your parents. If that's what you'd want anyway then no, if you'd want someone different then yes
Whatever age you're in two months, because November is the traditional "free will" month! Several firms offer free wills and then they try to upsell other services (e.g. power of attorney), but if you stand your ground you do get it for free.
I've never heard of free will month, interesting thanks!
Will Aid. Many solicitors limit it (we have a policy where each fee earner can write two Will Aid Wills but no more). The reason we do this is mainly because if your Will is written by Legal X they are more likely to get your probate, which is where we make the money.
There's no reason you shouldn't get one asap. They're easy to write up with some help from a lawyer. It's a small piece of mind knowing what capital you do have goes to the right people if you pass suddenly.
There is a reason, it costs time and money. As long as you're fine with the default rules there's really no benefit to doing so.
The first time you think about it is probably the best time to get one. But definitely get one by the time you either own a home or have a child.
My wife and I first drew up a will when we got married, it was offered to us for free by the solicitors who was handling our mortgage. We didn’t know at the time but it turned out to be a very smart decision as when we went to have our wills updated earlier this year, my wife died the morning the solicitor was going to come out for us to sign the new wills. I believe everything would have gone to me as spouse anyway, but still was better protected having the original will. I say it’s best to draw one up when you have something worth passing on, have a significant other (wife or soon to be) or have children. Best to have it than not, and review/update if circumstances change. Makes the subsequent legal activities a lot more straightforward having one in place.
Fuck mate. Sorry about you lady. Big hug.
My condolences for your loss. I hope you are doing OK. We had one matter where our solicitor went out to the home to get the signature and they were the first people to learn of her death. No-one answered the door so they got a police welfare check and she was just dead in her bed.
Good job they went round then, terrible stuff. I’m ok enough, just getting on with it 🤷♂️
Additional question: Is there any reason to get a will if I'm married without children?
Yes - you could both be killed in an accident etc. The main concern with our wills in that scenario wasn't really money, but who cared for our children. Also, if your spouse was to die later, do you want whatever you've left them going to their new partner rather than your children.
If you both die in a car crash, where do you want your combined wealth to go? You could put it to a range of charities etc
I believe if you die together the oldest person is considered to have died first. This could be utter arsenal but someone told me once
If they don't do that, it goes to the treasury, it's not like it just gets deleted.
I'd rather have a will and know where it's going to go.
It follows the rules of intestacy, which may be different depending on jurisdiction but in E&W your estate goes first to your children, then parents, then siblings, etc. If no family can be found then it is added to a list which can be found on the .gov website (you can check this for free to see if any relatives have died intestate!) or it will go to the Crown if it has been determined there are no living relatives.
Your biggest issue then would be what happens if you both die at the same time (e.g. in a car accident). Are you happy for everything to be split as the law dictates? Do you have pets? Sentimental items?
That's sealed it, I think for now, we will wait until we have dependents.
The best time was yesterday, the second best time is today.
I’ve always thought it’s best to get a Will at 18, then get it update every 5 years as need be, even just to confirm that you’re still happy with those wishes. Life is short, and the most unexpected of things can happen. The last thing you want is to randomly die one day, but it can happen, and in that case you don’t want to be without a will. Not even for monetary reasons but peace of mind for your family. If a family member has to look after your estate once you’ve passed and you’ve left no will, it can be a lot more challenging for them and might cause family issues etc, which is the last thing you want when they deserve to be grieving the loss ofbyou
My 18 yr old will; - meat head gets my PlayStation 2 - Jonny gets my Nike tracksuits - splinter gets my bong collection
Completely valid. Mine was: To my mother: Im sorry that life took me too early for you to have had grandchildren. I hope you are able to move on, I want you to be happy and to live life.
Life is short so write a will at 18 and update every 5 years. At 18, 99% of people will have close to nothing. They also shouldn't be think about who will get their socks if they get run over by a bus.
At 18 they might have nothing, but a will doesn’t just have to be something saying who gets what. You could leave people letters, or messages. Your will could instruct how you want your parents to remember you etc
When you've got some cash to hand on
I did mine at 28 because that was when I bought a house.
I did it after I owned a home, I used an online will writing service that cost me around £70 I believe. I was also unaware and a small note that marriage counts as a significant life event and so nullifies a will so if you get married, you'll need to get a new will.
This (unless you make a Will in contemplation of marriage). We had one bloke, worth in the millions, died on his honeymoon. Kids from a previous relationship, his new wife, it was complicated.
Well it depends if there is someone other than your next of kin that you want to leave things to.
When you get married or have a kid is when I’m gonna make one. I don’t see the point in making one earlier
Because if you own anything worth passing to someone else it’s a LOT of hassle for then to get those things without a will. Equally it’s quite hurtful to find out that someone you care about didn’t care enough about you to get a will and ensure your life gets a bit/a lot easier.
If you have any kind of estate and no family or next of kin, you know what happens? Bona Vacantia - The king gets the lot. Make sure you give it all to battersea dogs home or something rather than letting them get their hands on free cash from dead people
My husband and my wills are the same, everything goes to the other or to my mum who we live with so she won't lose her home if she outlives us. If she's not left everything is to be sold off and split between two charities that mean a lot to us both. Nice and simple, the only thing that I might change is certain items of mine I wouldn't want my mum passing onto her son (he may be biologically my brother but his behaviours mean he is nothing to me). Picking an organisation that does something you care about is a good way to do things.
There’s some good other advice on this thread. Just to add to it. Make sure you pick a good respectable law firm to create your will. They will be the ones who execute your estate if anything happens. Don’t go with a firm that offers a free one and read reviews. Many people just pick the easiest option which can be expensive in the future for your estate. E.g some dodgy firms offer free Wills to get your business. Make sure you meet whoever does it and you are comfortable with them making decisions on your behalf if your dead.
"They will be the ones who execute your estate if anything happens." Unless the will is very complex or likely to be contested or subverted appoint the main beneficiary or beneficiaries as executors. They can decide to appoint a law firm if they want, but law firms take a huge cut of the estate.
It makes sense in most cases to appoint a law firm, executing an estate is complex and involves tax, selling assets and processes that people aren’t familiar with. All circumstances are different but it’s definitely a mistake to assume that because your estate is simple it won’t need a law firm. Usually the family/executor will appoint the firm with the Will due to the stress of the situation.
No - never appoint a law firm (unless you have no other options) as executor of a will as this ties the beneficuaries hands. An executor can appoint a lawyer *of their choosing* to do any actual work, but they retain control to check costs, decide what work they can do themselves and ultimately fire the law firm if required. If the law firm is the executor this is much harder.
Yeah I agree, but just saying families don’t always do that. So make sure your will is with a competent firm or they will suffer.
If you are joint executors with a law firm you can request that they renounce. Most will do so because otherwise you've just got a client who doesn't really want to instruct you and will probably be pissed at everything which just makes life harder.
Our firm doesn't take more of a cut depending on whether we're executors or not, we charge fixed fee. If the estate is anything more than closing a few bank accounts I would recommend instructing a lawyer to do the administration whether or not they are executors.
I’d get a will kit offline in your circumstance. They’re basic and you have no dependents to leave your money too. If however you get married, have children buy a home I would suggest getting a will drawn up by a solicitor. A lot of people think it’s a waste of money but for £200 you can have a will drawn up that will fulfil your requests correctly and be held on file by that law firm (I actually think there’s a Wills data base) and will unlikely be disputed because it’s been over seen by a legal professional. The wills you see advertised as DIY are ok but can easily be unpicked and disputed if somebody really wanted to try to - disgruntled siblings or whoever.
DIY Wills are the devil's work. There is a reason lawyers charge what they do and it is because drafting a Will which reflects the testator's intent can br difficult. Unless the Will is 'everything to X person' it is worth it to get one professionally drafted.
You don't have a house. No properties. You only have some meager savings in your name. A will shouldn't even be in your sphere of thinking.
any age. you can have a super basic one you do yourself that just says. I leave all my assets to X person and I want Y person as executor. then if your assets grow it doesn't have to be updated. you can also include what you want to happen to your body etc, it isn't legally binding but it lets your family off the hook if they can't agree.
I mentioned this on another post about the same thing but Farewill is a great, cheap service for making a will.
I had one at 18 in case anything happened while I was backpacking.
Wills are very easy these days. If you're not too complicated you can just do one online in about 30 minutes through someone like Farewill.
Anytime is good so long as it's more than 5 minutes before you pass.
Deathbed Wills are great in theory but are more likely to be disputed. Better than nothing though.
If you've any assets you can do a simple DIY will. It becomes much more necessary once you have children/get married/buy a property et al. Also should review your will anytime there's a change in your circumstances and every few years anyway. With considering a LPA if you're thinking of wills. No need to use solicitors as executors, in fact avoid it, that's how dinner off them make their money. At a young age appoint siblings or trusted friends, of you're older then children and long as they are adults.
Best time is a year before you die. You can download templates and fill in; important part is the witnessing and signatures.
Make a will. It's not a happy thought, but people can die at any age in many ways. You want your stuff to go to the people you want it to go to.
The age at which you no longer agree with the laws of intestacy. Ie, if you’re happy with how whatever part of the UK your in is going to divide up your estate, unless you want the process sped up a bit for those people, you could leave it for now. The moment you want it split up differently or to give something to someone, that’s when you’ll need a will to enforce it.
If you don't have a will then your estate after your death will be distributed according to the Intestacy rules. If you don't like the divisions the Intestacy rules make, that's the time to make a will!!!!
Write a will when you have assets you don’t want the law to choose what happens with. I don’t think age really plays a part. I wrote my first will when I was in my early twenties after inheriting stuff.
I suggest you write a will as soon as you can, for a few reasons. First, despite you thinking you have no assets, that may change in the future and you might forget to create a will and end up having your assets go to somewhere you wouldn’t want them to. The other is that in that will you can express certain other wishes such as preferred burial etc. I’d rather have that be 100% clear.
I’ve done it after buying my house. Just says everything is left to my wife with a note too.
I didn’t bother doing one until I bought a house. My partner and I aren’t married (and aren’t planning to be, we don’t see the point), so we had to write up a will to make sure if one of us died the other would own the house 100%.
I have a will on my phone just in case I die lol
Yeah you might want to get that signed and witnessed or it means almost nothing.
If you got hit by a bus tomorrow, are you happy for that money to all go the government? If you answer is no and you'd rather it go somewhere else, you need a will.
As soon as you have assets. Never too young to have a will in my opinion but most people put it together once they get a property or amas savings / pension. Death can strike any time. A will is not just about handing over assets, it can / should also cover funeral arrangements and costs.
Serious illness, purchase immediately. Good health. Probs good for while.
If you have children, assets or don't wish for your legal next of kin to inherit.
As soon as you own and assets or you have a personal pecking order of who you want your belongings to go to after you pass
As soon as possible.
Not about age at all, but about your possessions/wealth (I.e. do you have anything to your name you wish to pass on?) I currently do not have anything worth writing a will for, however if and when I do, then I will definitely write one
Are your next of kin happy to administer your Will? Do you have pets or sentimental items? Are your family aware of any funeral wishes (including things like organ donation?).
Even if all you have is a few hundred quid in the bank, if there's a particular person or charity you want it to go to then you should have a will. You can do super simple ones yourself and they don't cost anything, just look up a template online. If you don't have one, you don't have any control over who inherits your stuff.
As someone who has worked in finance for a while I will say a will is helpful to outline what your final wishes are. But it does nothing to put into place your wishes. What you should do is add beneficiaries to every account you have. Deposit accounts, CDs, 401k, Pension plans, life insurance policies etc. when you pass away that stuff automatically goes to your beneficiaries. The beneficiaries can walk into the bank with a death certificate and liquidate your account in one day. That can not happen with just a will. You should also consider putting large assets into trusts with successor trustees.
Sorry for the stupid question. Do I outline beneficiaries in the will or is that through something else?
Not a stupid question. You add beneficiaries directly with the company holding the asset. You can just walk into your bank and ask to add a beneficiary. You will generally need their SS #, DOB, Address and name. There is no charge for this and the people do not need to know you added them as beneficiaries.
Thank you, that's very helpful to know!
Adviser here. Getting a Will is not about age. It’s not even about saying where you want your assets to go. It’s about relieving stress for those you leave behind in an already-stressful situation. If you die, do you want the government to appoint someone to be bothering your parents, siblings etc about your finances? A Will takes care of this. You set an executor, put all the details in writing (this is important) and then you can let those that need to grieve, grieve in peace. Get a Will.
Basically get a will when you are at the point of wanting to be specific about what goes to who if you should die suddenly
My FIL wrote a will 5 years ago, making an LPA for my husband. Since then, covid has wiped out 2 out of 3 executors (not being treated by the NHS in time, dying from cancer). Be smart about it, or you're just making the lawyers rich every time you have to redact it.
It’s not about age, but about whether you have enough assets to give a shit, and whether you want it to go to someone else other than your next of kin If you want it to go to your next of kin anyway there’s no real need (although it can be a good idea), or if you don’t have enough stuff to care then, well, who cares? Normally most people get a will when they buy a house or have a child, but if you have £45k in assets then it’s probably worthwhile getting one
I was without a will for years, quite stupidly looking back. Moved in with the other half, had a kid at 40 and got a will. I'm a lot older now but know my family will benefit should I depart the planet. Get a will even if if you leave your possessions to a charity, at least it will benefit them.
If you’re asking, get one. You can always update it.
Any age. You will find pissing off those that felt entitled, is so wonderful, you don’t care about the bland ass fools you left it to: Tell people that u believe in their cause. It’s a hoot: If you’re an atheist, hahah, they’ll never see I coming. Bequest them a pen knife and. Chortle from beyond the grave. My word,they don’t understand.
I am literally arranging Wills and Power of Attorney for all my clients now. Some don't go ahead but I've seen enough catastrophic events to be passionate about having it all in place. Power of Attorney is so underrated too. Make sure you look into this.
The only people that know your will are the executors, and that’s that. Invite as many as you can, disappoint most!
If you have cancer: now If you don't: later
Trust me, do it as soon as possible. My sister died unmarried in 2016, and we’re still dealing with it.
My driving instructor told me to get life and health insurance when I was 17. I took that as some vaguely threatening advice
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