Making a Will - a good idea?

[Anna B]

What experience of professional will writers have people had?

 

What would it cost to have a will drawn up by a solicitor?

 

Does the 'tenants in common' with regard to property thingy stand up in court?

 

Do home made wills do the job?

 

I know it depends on how complex the will is, but can anybody give me a ball park figure?

[aaryastark]

well nothing much to say about it but concerned person can easily make it easy for you.

[999tigger]

Does the 'tenants in common' with regard to property thingy stand up in court?

 

What's this meant to mean?

[Jeffrey Shaw]

What experience of professional will writers have people had?

 

What would it cost to have a will drawn up by a solicitor?

 

Does the 'tenants in common' with regard to property thingy stand up in court?

 

Do home made wills do the job?

 

I know it depends on how complex the will is, but can anybody give me a ball park figure?

I don't deal with Wills/Probate- so I'm unbiased- but I'd still recommend using a Wills/Probate specialist solicitor.

Why take risks with all your assets?

[Mr Bloom]

What experience of professional will writers have people had?

 

What would it cost to have a will drawn up by a solicitor?

 

Does the 'tenants in common' with regard to property thingy stand up in court?

 

Do home made wills do the job?

 

I know it depends on how complex the will is, but can anybody give me a ball park figure?

 

Not leaving a will can leave so much heartache for your family. I strongly advise it. Life has a way of throwing curve balls and there is no way you can predict what might happen after you are gone.

 

I wouldn't trust anyone but a specialist wills lawyer. At certain times of the year you can opt to give money to charity and lawyers will waiver their fee. There has just been one going on for St Lukes that you have missed.

[RonJeremy]

Use a solicitor every time. Yes of course tenants in common is a perfectly legal way of owning property as is joint tenants.

Get yourself a good local solicitor. Pay for their advice. It will be worth it in the long run. They are much more likely to be around when your family needs to sort things out.

[ccit]

@Anna B: Does the 'tenants in common' with regard to property thingy stand up in court?

 

Joint tenancy:

In a joint tenancy, each person owns the whole property. If one of them dies the property automatically passes to the other joint tenant(s), which is known legally as the right of survivorship.

 

Tenancy in common

In a tenancy in common, when one of the partners dies their interest in the property will not pass automatically to the survivor. Instead, the deceased's Will determines who takes the interest, provided that they write one. If they don't write a Will, the interest is distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy.

 

There are advantages to the latter, particularly in relation to care home fees and in second partnerships where there are children of previous relationships who expect to inherit.

 

Changing the terms of ownership of a property is not difficult and does not require a solicitor. The applicant needs to locate the Land Registry office that has responsibility for their area - this is on their website. A letter should be sent, outlining their wishes and signed by both of them.

 

As for making a Will, if you are a property owner and/or have valuable assets then yes, use a solicitor. Ditto if you have a complicated family structure. If you live in rented accommodation, have little in the way of assets and your wishes are quite straightforward then a form from the stationers or Post Office, properly completed, witnessed and signed should be sufficient. At least that is my experience - others may have different opinions.

 

If you are planning to write a Will you may want to consider completing Power of Attorney at the same time.

[mrs grissom]

Joint tenancy:

In a joint tenancy, each person owns the whole property. If one of them dies the property automatically passes to the other joint tenant(s), which is known legally as the right of survivorship.

 

Tenancy in common

In a tenancy in common, when one of the partners dies their interest in the property will not pass automatically to the survivor. Instead, the deceased's Will determines who takes the interest, provided that they write one. If they don't write a Will, the interest is distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy.

 

There are advantages to the latter, particularly in relation to care home fees and in second partnerships where there are children of previous relationships who expect to inherit.

 

Changing the terms of ownership of a property is not difficult and does not require a solicitor. The applicant needs to locate the Land Registry office that has responsibility for their area - this is on their website. A letter should be sent, outlining their wishes and signed by both of them.

 

As for making a Will, if you are a property owner and/or have valuable assets then yes, use a solicitor. Ditto if you have a complicated family structure. If you live in rented accommodation, have little in the way of assets and your wishes are quite straightforward then a form from the stationers or Post Office, properly completed, witnessed and signed should be sufficient. At least that is my experience - others may have different opinions.

 

If you are planning to write a Will you may want to consider completing Power of Attorney at the same time.

 

f you are planning to write a Will you may want to consider completing Power of Attorney at the same time.

 

Totally agree and just as important is an Advanced Directive too. MrG and I did ours a few years ago when he became very ill . It felt very morbid at the time tbh. Am I glad we did it now though ! I'm respecting our family's privacy , so can't go into detail but we've certainly discovered just how important it is to do these things . Every day , as I sit by our relative's bedside. I pray that we've done enough to ease the burden from our children's shoulders should we find ourselves in such a desperately sad situation . Please ,please just take a few minutes to sit and think what treatment and extreme measures you would or wouldn't want if you became unable to communicate your wishes yourself . I can't stress enough how important it could be one day .

[ccit]

Totally agree about the Advance Directive. I completed one years ago and it is with all the other important documentation. So many people with little or poor quality of life are being kept alive these days and if that is not what you want for yourself then definitely download a form, fill it in, get it witnessed and tell your nearest and dearest exactly what you want to happen if incapacitated.

I am not sure if they are legally binding - maybe someone else knows but at least for medical staff and next of kin, the way will be made clearer for decision making.

[Anna B]

Thankyou all so much for your advice. Good old Sheffield Forum.

 

I've just made a will and was horrified at the cost, (best part of a £1,000 for me and partner) but from what you say, it might actually be money well spent.