What Should I Include In My Will?
‘What Should I Include In My Will?’ Wills and Probate Solicitor Charlotte Day discusses the top 10 provisions to include in your Will …
A Will is probably one of the most important documents you should prepare during your lifetime as it allows you to choose what happens to your estate on your death.
It is always important to seek legal advice when preparing such an important document and there are some key provisions that you ought to think about including if they are relevant to your circumstances.
Let me tell you what I think the top 10 provisions to include in your Will are:
1. Executors and Trustees
Executors are the people who will be responsible for dealing with your estate following your death. They will be responsible for collecting in your assets, paying liabilities and tax (if any) and then distributing the estate. It is a big responsibility, so it is important that you get to choose who your Executors are.
Executors can also act as Trustees as they may be required to hold money on trust for the beneficiaries of your Will. It may be that they are holding the money on trust for a short period of time before it can be paid out to the beneficiary, or they may be holding the money for many years i.e. if it’s for a child at a certain age. It is important that you choose and appoint your Trustees carefully by Will.
2. Funeral Wishes
Wills are a great place to include your funeral wishes, though it is important to know that these will not be legally binding on your Executors. Even though you may include your funeral wishes in your Will, you also should make sure that your Executors and family know what your wishes are, in case the Will isn’t read until after the funeral takes place. Of course, you may also wish to put a funeral plan in place. We can recommend some local Funeral Directors if you so wish.
3. Guardians
You can appoint legal guardians for any of your children who are minors at the date of your death, or for any children for whom you have parental responsibility and who are minors at your death.
If parents appoint different guardians in their Wills then the appointed guardians must jointly agree on decisions relating to the child or children, and if they can’t, it will be for the Court to decide.
You may also want to leave a ‘letter of wishes’ to the guardians with your Will setting out how you would like the children to be raised.
4. Personal Belongings
You may wish to ensure that specific personal belongings or family heirlooms pass to specific individuals, so including this provision in your Will is essential. If no specific provision for these items is made, then the belongings will fall into the residuary estate to be distributed to the residuary beneficiaries.
5. Legacies
Legacies are specific sums of money that you want certain individuals or a charity to receive, so it is important to set these out in your Will.
6. Trusts
There are certain trusts that can be included in your Will to protect your assets for future generations i.e. Life Interest Trusts and Discretionary Trusts. These trusts must be expressly provided for in your Will if you wish for your beneficiaries to have the benefit of them.
7. Residuary Provisions
It is important that you set out where you want everything in your estate, less any specific gifts or legacies to go. If you leave this part of your Will silent then the Executors won’t know who your intended beneficiaries are, and you will be treated as having died ‘partially intestate.’ This means that your estate will then be distributed to the next person(s) entitled as per the Intestacy Rules which are enshrined in law. This may not be who you want to inherit.
If there is no one left to inherit in your extended family tree, then your estate could end up being paid to the Crown.
8. Age Contingencies
If when making provision for children, grandchildren or other young children in your Will, you have concerns about them inheriting large sums of money at the age of 18 you can include age contingencies which defer the age at which they will be entitled to receive their inheritance, for example to 21 or 25 years of age.
9. Disaster Clause
There are occasions when all of someone’s chosen beneficiaries have died before them. If this is the case and the Will makes no further provision, then your estate will be distributed as per the Intestacy Rules as a ‘partially intestate estate’ as mentioned above. Therefore, it is always a good idea to think about other individuals or charities whom you might like to benefit from your estate in this situation, if you would not be happy with the application of the Intestacy Rules.
10. Special Attestation Clause
If you are blind, illiterate, or deaf then it is important that a special attestation clause is included in your Will to confirm that you have approved and understood the content of your Will, and that it has been read over to you. Not including this type of attestation in these circumstances can cast doubt as to whether you knew what was in your Will and whether you understood it properly, which can then cause your Executors a lot of problems.
How Can We Help?
If you would like advice about preparing or revising your Will, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01283 214231 or via email at c.day@timms-law.com. Alternatively, you can visit the Wills and Probate Section of our website here.
July 2022