What happens if you haven’t made a Will

Lawpack on April 29, 2020

If you die without making a Will, the government effectively makes a Will for you.

Making a Will offers you the peace of mind that your money and possessions will be distributed according to your wishes. If you have not made a Will , your estate will be distributed according to our intestacy laws.

Find out how our intestacy laws work, and discover why they may not correspond to your wishes here.

But there is more to consider than whether or not your wishes will be respected. The consequences of dying without a Will fall hardest on those left behind to pick up the pieces. A survey by the National Consumer Council found that the human cost of people not making a will runs high.

At a time when your loved ones are feeling most vulnerable they will have to deal with…

  • The extra hassle and worry over administering an estate without a will.
  • The extra expense that is associated with administering an estate without a Will .
  • The extra strain and the lasting damage to personal relationships that can occur when it’s not clear how someone may have wished to distribute their money and possessions.
  • The devastating consequences of seeing an estate is distributed (according to the inheritance or intestacy laws) to the ‘wrong’ people.
  • The possible economic consequences of having the family home sold to pay out surviving relatives

Put simply, there is an easy and effective way to save your loved ones a lot of heartache and strife. By making a Will you can ensure that you have peace of mind and that you’re saving your loved ones the time, stress, expense and potential heartache of trying to sort out your affairs after you’re gone.

Making a Will is simple. Make a legally valid Will now.

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How to witness and sign your Will properly

Lawpack on March 27, 2020

Witnesses to Your Will

To make sure that your Will is legally valid, it’s important to ensure that your will is properly witnessed.

When you’re making a Will you need two witnesses who must be over 18 and preferably neither very old nor hard to trace, in case a question should arise later concerning the validity of your Will. A blind person cannot witness a Will

Making a Will Warning:

If a person is inheriting something in your Will (called a ‘beneficiary’), it’s vital that they are not a witness to the same Will. Also, you shouldn’t use someone as a witness to your Will if they are married to a beneficiary of your Will. If either of these people do witness your Will, they will lose the benefit of their gift, but the Will itself will remain legally valid.

An ‘executor’ (someone you have named in the Will to manage your estate) or their spouse can safely act as a witness to your Will – unless they are also a beneficiary, in which case another witness must be found.

Signing Your Will

You must sign your Will in the presence of two witnesses and they must then both sign in your presence and in the presence of each other as witnesses to your signature. Neither you nor any witness to your Will should leave the room until your Will is both signed and witnessed, and you should all see each other sign the Will .

When signing your Will, use your usual signature, write in ink and date your will. Be sure that the witnesses complete their names, addresses and occupations on the Will.

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