Money
Retirement
How to write a will
Everyone at some time or another finds themselves faced with making arrangements following the death of a loved one. At this distressing time, any mention of a will (much less the proving of it) will be seen as an intrusion into personal grief at a time when you perhaps feel least able to cope, writes Marlene Garsia
Approximately one in every five people write their own will. Most still go to a solicitor, not necessarily because their affairs are complex but because they do not know where to start or what to do. In the first of a series of articles, I intend to give you an introduction into writing your will, proving of a will as executor and the tax implications.
Basically you make a will because you want to direct who receives your assets following your death. If you do not write a will and you then die, you are said to have died intestate. At this stage the laws of intestacy apply to your estate which means that your estate is divided between your lawful spouse and your surviving blood relatives, according to specific rules laid down by Parliament. If there are no living relatives, once an extensive search has been undertaken, your money goes to the Crown.
Intestacy rules are, of course, made in broad terms and cannot take account of your individual wishes. In 1995, the government passed a new measure called the Law Reform Succession Act 1995 which amended the 1975 Inheritance Act. This amendment now means that the vast majority of couples living outside wedlock can now seek financial provisions from the estate of the deceased cohabitee, while at the same time it leaves open the claims from a separated wife and dependent children from a previous marriage. It must be stressed that the Act does not automatically give a common-law partner inheritance rights on intestacy, it merely seeks to clarify the standing of such partners.
* Marlene Garsia, is the author of How to Write Your Will, published by Kogan Page, £8.99, www.kogan-page.co.uk
