Special focus on help with making your will

MAKING a will could be one of the most important decisions you will ever make. There are many benefits and few drawbacks and so the decision to visit a solicitor to clarify exactly what should happen to your estate in the event of your death really is a no-brainer.

A will is a legal document to appropriately apportion your belongings directly to your family and loved ones. It allows you to appoint an executor and also enables you to appoint guardians for your children, as well as trustees who will hold assets in trust for your children until they reach a certain age.

If there’s no will, then the high costs of probate and other administration can significantly reduce the amount of wealth transferred to loved ones, while the estate may not be divided in accordance with your wishes as the courts will appoint an executor.

To make a will you must be 18 or over, be of sound and disposing mind, and be able to recall the people who might be expected to benefit from the estate. The will-maker must also have made the choice voluntarily.

A will should be prepared by your solicitor who will advise you of the tax and legal implications of your decisions and take your informed instructions to draft your will.

Note, though, despite what is written in a will, a spouse or civil partner has a legal right to one half of your estate if you die without children, and a third of your estate where you die with children. Children are not automatically entitled to a share of your estate but can make a court application if they feel they have not been adequately provided for.

A will can be changed as many times as you like and should be reviewed after marriage as it revokes it.

Meanwhile, if you die without making a will, the law states that your spouse is entitled to your entire estate if there are no children. If you leave a spouse and children, your spouse gets two-thirds and onethird goes to your children.

There are other provisions too for those without a will. For instance, if you do not have a spouse the entire estate goes to your children - if one of your children is a parent and dies before you, then those children take their parent’s share.

For those without a spouse or children, then their parents are entitled to the entire estate but if both parents are deceased, then the estate is divided between your brothers and sisters. In this case, if a brother or sister dies before you and leaves children, then those children take their parent’s share.

Therefore, if you die without making a will, then only your heirs will avail of your estate.