Making your Will allows you to set out your wishes so that your loved ones know what you would like to happen when you die.

The things to consider when making your Will include who you would like to deal with everything (your Executors), who you would like to look after your children (your Guardians), what your funeral wishes are, whether you would like to leave anything specific to anyone and who you would like to leave everything else to.

For a Will to be legally binding, it must be a valid Will. In order for a Will to be valid, it must comply with the following requirements:

• made by a person who is 18 years old or over;
• made voluntarily and without pressure from any other person;
• made by a person who is of sound mind which means the person must be fully aware of the nature of the document being written or signed and aware of the property and the identify of the people who may inherit;
• it must be in writing;
• signed by the person making the Will in the presence of two witnesses; and
• signed by the two witnesses, in the presence of the person making the Will, after it has been signed.

If you have children under 18 years old, you will need to name a guardian in your Will. Legal Guardianship only takes effect when there are no surviving parents or adults with parental responsibility for that child.

Choosing a guardian can be one of the hardest decisions a parent can make. When choosing, you should consider their location, age, health and whether they share the same values as you. Most people will appoint family members or friends to be guardians.

If you need any help or you would like to discuss other services, such as Power of Attorney or Trusts, please contact us by:

Telephone: 01909 281277
Email: trust@ajk.choosepurpledev5.co.uk

If someone dies without making their Will, there is a strict order in which their estate is shared out and this is known as the ‘rules of intestacy’.

These rules are set out in law and apply to everyone’s estate unless they have written their Will.

If you are married or in a civil partnership but do not have children, your partner will inherit everything you owned (apart from jointly owned property with others). If you do have children, your partner will receive the first £270,000 plus 50% of the remaining and your children will receive the other 50%.

If you are in a relationship but not married or civil partnered, there are no automatic rights. If you are unmarried and don’t have children, other family members will benefit in a strict order governed by the law.

Usually, Mirror Wills are made by couples who would like everything they own to pass to each other on their death and then on to their children (or other beneficiaries). Mirror Wills are nearly identical for both partners/spouses, meaning the terms reflect in each other’s Will. This is the most common option for a couple, married or not.

An executor of a Will is someone you nominate to carry out the wishes in your Will. They have all of the legal powers necessary to deal with your estate and distribute everything you own exactly how you would like.

Your executor can be family members, friends or a combination of both. The most important thing when choosing your executor is you trust this person to carry out your wishes.

In order for your Will to be legally valid, you need to sign it in the presence of two witnesses. These witnesses must be over 18, of sound mind and not fully or partially blind.

The important thing to note is that the witness cannot be anyone who is benefiting under your Will, or married to anyone benefiting under your Will.