{"id":4528,"date":"2021-06-28T14:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T14:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-planet.com\/?p=4528"},"modified":"2021-06-28T14:18:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T14:18:00","slug":"why-you-should-make-a-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/why-you-should-make-a-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Make a Will"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you made a Will yet? Making a Will is something all of us know we should do but lots of us don\u2019t get around to making one, for one reason or another. Reasons to not make a Will might include, \u2018I\u2019m too young\u2019, \u2018I\u2019m not married\u2019, \u2018I don\u2019t have any children\u2019, \u2018I\u2019ve got nothing to leave,\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019ll get round to it one day\u2019, amongst other excuses we make to ourselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The article below gives advice on Wills in England, UK. Please check the rules for your own country before making a decision based on your own circumstances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why should you make a Will?\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s true it\u2019s important to make a Will if you own property &#8211; after all, you didn\u2019t spend all those hours traipsing around <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.balgoresproperty.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">estate agents in Essex<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> looking for your perfect home just to let the government have your house when you die, did you? But if you have savings, investments, shares, insurance policies, own a business or have children, it\u2019s also important to have a Will to ensure all your assets (i.e. not only your house, but also your car and savings, etc., known as your \u2018estate\u2019) are divided according to your wishes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without a Will, your estate will be shared out by however the law decides (the \u2018Rules of Intestacy\u2019) and those you may have wished to benefit will not receive anything.\u00a0 Having a Will therefore makes it much easier for your friends and family to sort everything out and will save them unnecessary stress and inconvenience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Will can also contain any special provisions (as long as they\u2019re within the law), such as whether you want to be buried or cremated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to make a Will\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Will can be a simple document. All it needs is:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the names of those to whom you wish your estate to go;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the name(s) of who you have chosen to be in charge of carrying out your instructions (the \u2018executor(s)\u2019). You can have more than one executor and, contrary to popular belief, your executor(s) can be named as beneficiary(ies) in your Will); and<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to be signed and dated by you in the presence of two witnesses, and then signed by the two witnesses in your presence.\u00a0 Unlike executors, your witnesses must be people who aren\u2019t named as beneficiaries in your Will.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Should you use a solicitor or Will-writer?\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although, as mentioned above, a Will can be a simple document and can be done cheaply by yourself, it\u2019s worth spending a bit more for the peace of mind given by having one drawn up by a solicitor or professionally qualified Will-writer. You should especially consider using one to draw up your Will if:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019ll have to pay inheritance tax;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your family situation isn\u2019t straightforward (for example, children from a previous relationship or you want to make special arrangements for children);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you have overseas assets such as a holiday home; or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you own a business which will form part of your estate.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to ensure your Will is a valid document and a solicitor or Will-writer will take care of the complicated bits and ensure no mistakes have been made, for example something as easily overlooked as having it signed and witnessed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your solicitor or Will-writer can also store your Will safely in a fireproof safe so there\u2019s minimal chance of it getting lost or destroyed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaving a business in your Will\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are a sole trader or a partner in a business, the assets of your business or your share of assets in the business will be treated as part of your estate. Therefore, if you are a sole trader and want to pass on your business when you die, it can be treated the same as any other asset in your Will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If, however, you are in a partnership and have a partnership agreement, your partnership agreement should have a provision containing what will happen should one of the partners die. If there are more than two partners, then in all probability, the partnership will continue. If there are only two partners, then the partnership will come to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you own a business or are a partner in a business, you may be able to claim <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/business-relief-inheritance-tax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business Relief<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which will enable you to pass on some of the business free of tax.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, it\u2019s up to you if you have a Will or not. There\u2019s no legal requirement to have one but a Will is a must if you want to make sure your assets go to the right people after you\u2019ve gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you made a Will yet? Making a Will is something all of us know we should do but lots of us don\u2019t get around to making one, for one reason or another. Reasons to not make a Will might include, \u2018I\u2019m too young\u2019, \u2018I\u2019m not married\u2019, \u2018I don\u2019t have any children\u2019, \u2018I\u2019ve got nothing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-real-estate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4530,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528\/revisions\/4530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-planet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}