When Is The Best Time To Make A Will?

During Dying Matters Awareness Week, Wills & Probate Solicitor Charlotte Day discusses the best time to make a Will…

Making a Will means that you can be sure that your wishes are carried out when you die. For example, you can:

Choose your Executors (the people in charge of dealing with your estate).
Choose who should (and should not) inherit your money.
Set out funeral wishes.
Choose Guardians for any children under the age of 18 years.
Protect assets for children from previous relationships.

If you already have a Will, it is equally important to review it, to make sure that it still meets your needs and reflects your current wishes.

The Intestacy Rules

If you die without making a Will, then the Intestacy Rules will apply.

The Intestacy Rules set out a specific order in which your relatives will inherit your estate, should they survive you. If all of your immediate family have died, then this could mean that more distant relatives will inherit, and this may not be your wish. There is no provision in the Intestacy Rules for stepchildren, non-family members or charities/organisations. If there is no family at all, your money may pass to the Crown.

When Should I Make A Will?

There are key events that happen in our lives that should prompt us to prepare a Will. For example:

1. Marriage

The Intestacy Rules do not necessarily provide that all of someone’s estate will pass to their spouse or civil partner on death.

Many people do not realise that the act of marriage or entering into a Civil Partnership automatically revokes an existing Will. Therefore, if you have married or entered a Civil Partnership since making your Will (or are planning to do so in the near future), you should make an appointment to review your Will or put a new one in place.

Parents who have children from previous relationships and have gone on to marry or enter into a civil partnership with someone else, are often concerned to ensure that their own children from their previous relationships are provided for. Parents can protect assets for their children using their Will, whilst still making some provision for their spouse or civil partner.

2. Having/Adopting Children

Parents’ whole lives can be turned upside down by the arrival of a child, but few think about what might happen to that child should they die before the child reaches the age of 18. A Will can be used to appoint guardians for any child who is a minor and has lost both of their parents. If no provision has been made then Social Services will decide who should care for the children, and this may not be who the parents would have chosen themselves.

3. Divorce/Separation

When a couple divorces, any provision for the ex-spouse in the Will fails but the divorce will not revoke the whole Will.

A divorcing couple will not be fully divorced until the Decree Absolute is granted which can often be a long time after the couple have separated, particularly if there are arrangements to be made concerning children and finances.

If a couple decides to separate and one party dies before the Decree Absolute is granted then the surviving spouse or civil partner could still inherit. Making a Will or updating an existing Will could protect against this.