If you fail to make a last will and testament, then who concludes who receives what? Often it may not proceed how you would have chosen. To make sure your preferences are followed, you need to make a last will and testament.
If you die without without making a free will it’s the crown that determines how your assets is divided. The intestacy laws are applied and it will not be what you’d have hoped or wished.
If you are legally married or have a civil partner but are without children and your assets is valued at a certain figure or less then your spouse would receive the whole of the property including any life assurance . If the property is valued above this threshold and you have surviving relatives, your partner would still receive this figure, plus half of the surplus. There exists an order in which family would inherit, with existing parents being at the head of the list, followed by siblings and so on.
If you have a civil partner and offspring then your partner will receive the predefined amount as above and half of the excess. The descendants will receive 50% of the total over the set amount right away and the remaining 50% on the death of your spouse.
If you have children but no legal partner, then your offspring would divide the inheritance. This could not be as you would have expected. You could have a partner who relies on you and who you would have intended to receive at least share of your assets, who’d receive nothing.
To avoid all possible worry about your property, however straightforward it may seem, it would be wise to write a last will and testament. There are various ways to do this. You may make it on your own or use a skilled will writer or a solicitor.
Many people draw up their own will, generally using a form which can acquire from stationers. Caution is advised if you go along this path – it’s very simple to make an error and you could potentially find it void. The price of having a will written, especially a relatively simple one, is not restrictive and you can be sure that your intentions will be realised.
A trained will company or a solicitor will be experienced with dealing with all forms of queries and will be able to aid you. There could be queries about starting trust funds and maybe taxes.
Having constructed your last will and testament, it’s a prudent decision to reassess it from time to time, as your situation changes. If you decide to change it, then it is a smart move to revoke your existing one and have it remade. If the changes are minimal, it could be easier to draw up a codicil to form a part of the last will and testament and to be read in association with it. Any codicil will have to be constructed in the same way as the will in regards to signatures and witnesses.
Please be aware that any health insurance will terminate on the death of the will holder and no value will be attributed to It in the will.