General Chat

FIL did not leave a will as soon as she could MIL made a will as she said she would not wish her son to go through that upheaval twice.

I think that is what people forget, that it is not always the fact that the money isn't left specifically but that it leaves an awful lot for our loved ones to sort out if we don't leave one. Also you can put what you want at your funeral etc etc so that worry is taken away from them as well.

My b i l died last Aug, NO WILL, and he's left an awful mess for my sister to sort out. Its been very upsetting for her. No one is contesing it its just the amount of work involved, he had invoices going back 30 yrs!!! etc etc etc....he was the sort of chap who you would think had everything sorted too!!

jude

Oh I know Kay but there is no one to fight.
I will of course leave instructions, but very simple.
I did leave a letter when I was having an operation years ago and the prognosis was not what I would call good.

I was being a bit facetious .... sorry. ;-0)

Deanna X

I am enjoying reading this thread but most of the replies are in favour of making a will. Is there anyone who, for whatever reason, doesn't want to do it?

Wendy

We made simple reciprocal wills in 1980 just after out grandson was born and at that time we didnt think we had much in the way of assets but as the solicitor pointed out we were buying our house that had increased in value so there was equity.
We were guided down the line of what if . ie what if we both died in a car crash and they couldn't determine who died first ?? well the elder would be deemed to have been first so their will would come into force.
We were leaving it to each other and then to our daughter and again were guided ,could she be with us and died in the same accident , well yes cos at that time her hubby was in the Forces and she went with us on lots of outings etc. She had one baby then but it was put in for that child and any other children she might have.
Again could he also be with us ? YES so what would happen then? well it would go to my siblings as the younger which i didnt want so we put it would go to SIL providing they were still married at the time .

Well time moved on. she did have another child but they divorced after 10 years so altho the wills were OK !! we did new will 3 years ago . again reciprocal ie it goes to the surviving partner and then to our daughter , she is now happily remarried and both her and hubby have made wills because they both have children from former partners so our assets would be combined with hers and we know our now grown grandchildren will inherit.
Our new wills cost £95 each and we feel well worth it for [peace of mind that all is settled and no hassle when the time comes.

You struggle sometimes paying mortgages etc so why let the government get your hard earned too ,!!

TS - the plain and simple answer to that is yes and asap.

That's a bit tough on you Kathy. How long do you have to keep paying her for?

Also if you marry or remarry your will becomes null and void and you need to do a new one.

Here all wills are on numbered, watermarked paper and registered in Madrid.

This is to avoid any wrong doing for instance anyone finding a second will made by the deceased and destroying it because they were named in the first one but not in the second.

Wendy

If you are writing a DIY will don't forget it has to be witnessed by two(2) people or it isn't legal..

This happened on Heir Hunters in the last series and the poor bloke didn't get a penny from his uncles wife's will as she had only one signature on it..

Rose - two witnesses (not any one who would benefit from the will). But cheaper in the long run to go to a solicitor. Mirror wills are usually cheaper. However, before going to the solicitor - write everything down first - this will cut down on wasted and expensive time in the office!

You CAN write your own on a Will form bought from a stationers...if it is witnessed properly it is legal... I wouldn't advise it for anything but the most basic of wills, eg all estate left to one person, no one to quibble.

But it would certainly be better than none at all because it does speed up the process, when someone has died, of sorting out their bank accounts etc, and if one is totally averse to spending on solicitors it is an option.

In a friend's case the reasoning behind not wanting to make a will was that it seemed like 'tempting fate'!

Piglets Pal

I don't have a problem with his fee, I was just pleased to get it sorted.

I was a bit disgruntled when he at a later date charged me £35.00 for amendments which consisted of a name he had spelt wrong and the number of a house he had put incorrectly but Iwould rather have it put right than not

Wendy

Deanna,

If you own all your own furniture or a single ornament,cup and saucer,,,,,then you have value.and everything thats yours down to a knife and folk becomes your estate.

even an old ornament can cause family fifts.

Hi Joy

I looked at that link and it looks good as long as you are not too far from one of the participating solicitors. I have sent it to my sister in law

Wendy

There will be no problem with our Wills.
My husband and I have NOTHING of any value to leave!
Deanna X ;-0)

It is worth reading this if over the age of 55 -

http://www.freewillsmonth.org.uk/

Good thinking Patricia, we don't have pets but a friend has just taken on his mothers dog when she died. It is a lovely but elderly dog who is undergoing treatment at the vets and I think very lucky to have a new owner that is happy to look after her

Wendy

Going off topic ever so slightly, but still keeping with the subject, I always knew where Mum kept all her important papers [old shoe box in bottom of wardrobe] so when she died I hadn't any worries about finding the will. In there were details of solictor etc, so the morning she died we dug the A to Z out so we could find the solicitors......imagine our surprise when there were little post-it notes attached to some pages showing us where the registrars office was, the solicitors, even down to the undertakers and florist shop!! Mum was nothing if not organised!! lol

And yes we've made a will, which includes a paragraph about our dogs, who would go back to the breeder if anything happened to us both [and an amount of money set aside for thier care] I have heard about too many pets being thrown out ,or worse, as provision wasn't made for them. It's not so bad if you have children perhaps but we don't and as the person who would get the benefit [if we died at the same time] hates dogs I wanted to know they would be safe.

Although thinking about it he has now moved so perhaps an update would be in order or would a note attached to the wills be ok?

Patricia:) who has no plans of popping her clogs just yet!!

Lol Wendy!!!

They don't come any more basic than ours. I think our solicitor was very expensive for what she did.