Where there’s a will there’s a way
Iwish I hadn’t heard this plea for help so often: “My husband died last month. He looked after the finances. I don’t know where to begin. I can’t even access his cash to pay the mortgage.”
Yet many times in my career I’ve been asked for help by those in a similar position, often women in their 40s or 50s. Sadly fixing it after the fact isn’t easy: prevention beats cure. There are two lessons to learn:
Lesson 1: Urgent! Get a will now. It needn’t break the bank.
If you’ve assets such as a house, savings or a business, and people who need looking after when you’re gone, you must sort this.
As Hollie emailed me: “Two years on, I’m dealing with the fallout from Mum not having a will. Please get a will.”
This is especially important if you aren’t married or in a civil partnership. Then, even if you’ve lived together for 37 years and have six children, your relationship means nothing under inheritance law. If one dies the other may not get the house. Only marriage, a contract or a will can change that.that Solicitor Solicitor-drafteddrafted wills are the gold standard, and usually cost hundreds of pounds, but there are ways to cut that, especially right now. See a full list of options in mse.me/freewills
Don’t delay – October is Free Wills Month (over 55s). Most appointments have gone, but check freewillsmonth.org.uk to see if any of the 50 locations has any left.
It’s totally free for simple wills for over-55s (or for couples where one is over-55) doing “mirror wills”. It’s run by charities hoping you’ll leave them something in your will.
November is Will Aid month for all ages willaid.org.uk Solicitors across the UK give time for a suggested £95 donation (£150 for couples) to be split between nine charities, including the NSPCC and British Red Cross. This is a bargain. You can donate less but play fair – it’s for charity.
Lesson 2: Saying “I’ll sort the finances” can be cruel in the long run. Most couples say just one of them deals with all the home’s money issues. But if that person is hit by one of the three Ds – death, divorce or dementia – that kindness may become a curse, heaping financial misery on grief.
Create a finance factsheet, naming all product providers from roadside recovery to investments, boiler cover to bank accounts. Keep it somewhere safe, without too many security details in, just in case.
Then have a kitchen table briefing every few months to update and discuss so if the worst happens taking over won’t be hellish.