If you choose not to draw up a last will and testament, then who decides who receives what? Often it wont turn out the way you would have intended. To ensure your preferences are adhered to, you need to build a will.

Should you die without leaving a probate will it’s the crown that decides how your assets is divided. The intestacy laws will be used and it may not be how you’d have expected or wished.

If your currently married or have a civil partner but no children and your estate is valued at a predefined threshold or under then your spouse will get the whole of the assets including any life insurance cover . If the assets is worth at more than this threshold and you have surviving relatives, your partner will still receive this figure, plus half of the excess. There exists an priority in which family will inherit, with existing parents situated at the head of the list, followed by brothers and sisters and so on.

Should you have a spouse and children then your partner will gain the predefined amount as above and half of the remainder. The offspring will receive half of the amount over the set amount right away and the other half on the death of your partner.

Should you have offspring but no lawful partner, then your offspring would share the estate. This might not be as you would have wished. You could have a partner who relies on you and who you will have intended to receive at least a proportion of your estate, who would get nothing.

To remove all possible doubt about your estate, regardless of how simple it may appear, it would be wise to draw up a will. There are many ways to do this. You may write it yourself or hire a trained will service or a solicitor.

Many people construct their own last will and testament, commonly using a form which can obtain from the post office. Caution is advised should you go along this path – it’s very simple to make an error and you could potentially make it void. The price of having a will constructed, especially a relatively basic one, is not prohibitive and you can be assured that your intentions will be carried out.

A professional will writer or a solicitor will be experienced with processing all types of enquiries and will be able to assist you. There could be questions about setting up trust funds and perhaps inheritance tax.
Now you’ve made your will, it’s a good idea to review it from time to time, as circumstances change. If you decide to alter it, then it’s prudent to revoke your existing one and have it re-written. If the amendments are minor, it may be more straight forward to write a codicil to make a part of the last will and testament and to be used in partnership with it. Any codicil will have to be drawn up in the same way as the will in relevance signatures and witnesses.

Please be aware that any health insurance cover will terminate on the death of the will holder and no value will be attributed to It in the will.