Why Christmas is the season for good wills

Trust Farewill, the company created to safeguard your loved ones’ interests

AMAZINGLY, four people in ten in England and Wales die intestate — without making a will. And that’s a major headache to their loved ones already bearing the burden of grief. All kinds of people — high and low, rich and poor — fail to make a will. Only last year the artist Prince did just that, despite an estate running into millions.

People die intestate for many reasons, from an optimistic refusal to worry about the future to a phobia of lawyers.

Yet quite apart from the emotional consequences, there’s no mistaking the risk of not leaving a will. The statistics make grim reading:

DYING intestate costs an average of almost £10,000 more than had you made a will;

88 PER CENT of people haven’t appointed a guardian for their child or children, despite the fact that one in 30 parents dies before their offspring reach 18;

100,000 people go into debt every year to pay for a funeral that’s three times more expensive than it needs to be.

Fortunately there’s now a way to draw up a will that’s legally watertight, easy and almost completely hassle-free.

Farewill ( farewill.com) was set up by a team of designers, engineers and lawyers to make a dense and complex process simple.

They created an online tool that anyone with a computer, tablet or phone with internet access can use to direct what should happen to their property on their death and to carry out whatever wishes they care to specify.

A Farewill will normally costs £50 for a single person or £85 for a couple, with an option to make it updatable for life for £10 a year.

It is a genuinely user-friendly experience and completing the will-drafting system takes just a few minutes. There are interactive boxes, highlighted clearly in yellow in which you complete a series of questions phrased in simple, plain English that call for straightforward answers. When done, there’s ample opportunity to review your intentions, after which every Farewill will is legally checked before it is released for print. Then, when satisfied, you just download the document, print it and sign it in front of two witnesses.

Anyone who rarely uses a computer should find the Farewill system easy to handle — and for those determined not to log on, any trusted friend or family member can help with the process.

Farewill must clearly be answering an unmet need. Since its launch last November, it has received widespread press and media coverage including on Radio 4 and has grown to employ a team of 16 full-time staff to become Britain’s single largest will-writer.

FESTIVE OFFER — SAVE £20

CHRISTMAS is a time where loved ones are front and centre of everyone’s mind.

Farewill has recognised that making the best provision for those we love could be among the best moves you could make.

The Christmas posting deadline is almost upon us, but from now until Monday, December 18, there’s £20 off, so you can save as well as send a relative or friend the gift of a Farewill will. It comes as a seasonal package which includes: GIFT voucher for one discounted will; A HANDY guide to writing your will; DELIVERY by Royal Mail First Class. So perhaps now is the time truly to make it the season of good will.