Anyone made their own will?

[EssexSue]

We had our will made by a specialist solicitor so our children inherit half the house on first death. This will protect against second partners (this actually happened in our family) and everything going to home fees (has also happened).

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by mickey house

Me and the wife still haven't done a will (I know it's stupid), and it's about time we did, but we would rather not pay a solicitor if we can do it ourselves.

Our wills will be simple in that if one of us dies the other will inherit everything. If we both die our son will inherit everything.

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Get it done soon

I nagged my parents for years having watched others deal with parents dying and not leaving a Will.

They solicitors came to their house on the Monday. The following Tuesday my mother died unexpectedly, it was so much easier for me to deal with on dads behalf.

Also, it meant that the “specialL things were left to the correct people for instance

jewellery divided between grandchildren
Her brothers lighter and a small piece of artwork he had done, which had we found and not known may well have ended up in the bin, however, she has requested they were returned to her brothers children back in Ireland.

It’s not always about the big bucks

[Lisa-72]

I paid £19.99 through Groupon, chap came twice to the house for that price, we’ll worth it.

[Orlandobelle]

My partner's father passed recently without a will. Gave me the push I needed to do mine after seeing him deal with the aftermath (as said sometimes it's more about who you don't want to inherit!)
As it was slightly complicated due to family issues I used the free wills network and left a charity bequest in the will. It was drawn up by a local solicitor for free.
Prior to this (pre-divorce) I bought a will kit online and xDH and I had mirror wills. Simple to fill out

[FlorayG]

I can't see why you can't do a simple will on your own but with Children In Need you can get a solicitor for £50 that's what mine cost.

Power of Attorney - get it done as soon as you can and get it registered! My mom did this for me 3 years before it was necessary but once it finally was it made life so easy for me and also for her because she just had to tell me what to do and I could do it without her having to sign forms and answer telephone security and all sorts of things you really can't cope with when you're 94 and ill

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by Mel49

Have a look into Will Aid which runs this month - "Will Aid is a special partnership between the legal profession and nine of the UK’s best-loved charities. Every November, participating solicitors waive their fee for writing a basic Will. Instead, they invite clients to make a voluntary donation to Will Aid – we suggest £100 for a single basic Will and £180 for a pair of basic ‘mirror’ Wills. With Will Aid, everyone benefits. You get a professionally drawn-up Will and peace of mind, while the charities receive much-needed donations for their vital work."

Anyone reading this who does not have a will please make one as soon as possible as it makes life so much easier for those left behind when the time comes. A homemade one is better than nothing but if you own property or have a lot of assets the cost of one drawn up by a Lawyer is worth it to make sure everything is water tight. Sorting out an Estate even when there is a will can be hard enough without the added complications if no will.

Also if you live in Scotland and have children please look into their Legal Rights to ensure you don't have the added complication and cost of them waiving their rights or if you have "cut them out" of your will them claiming these (more in it than this but not the place to go into the complexities).

I made my first will when my DH and me were going away for a short break without our then young son as I wanted peace of mind incase anything happened to both of us while away. It has been updated at minimal cost a few times but this thread is a good reminder too for anyone who made a will long ago to check it is still in accordance with any change in circumstances.

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Thanks for the info, and I checked will aid out and called my nearest solicitor who said that they have run out of appointments for the will aid, but from next month they will match the will aid price of £180 for me and my wife's will. Although she said she can't see me and my wife together, but said some solicitors will? I guess they do it cheap in the hope we will sign them up as the executors, which I have no experience of, but a chap I know said when his mother died the solicitors wanted a fortune so he did it himself which wasn't too involved.

Apart from getting my mum's power of attorney sorted, me and my wife are also going to do one each just in case.

Thanks all for the posts, and hopefully it might push others into getting their wills sorted.

The house is just in my name because I bought it before I met my wife, so if I have a will saying she gets it if I die, is there any need to pay to have the deeds changed to both names?

[5gotodisney]

Great thread, thanks DisneyDaffodil, following your post I have just checked my union and realised they offer a free will writing service, so will contact them next week to ask about that.

MH, we are in the process of adding my name to the deeds of our house as it’s been in just my husbands name up until now, we’re opting for joint tenants, as it means whichever one of us dies first the house becomes the property of the surviving partner and doesn’t form part of the estate of the deceased partner. Not sure what your house would be worth, but it is worth checking inheritance tax thresholds, although I know these have changed, in some parts of the country house value can be an issue in tipping people over the IT threshold.

Re changing names on the deeds, we have downloaded all the paperwork from HM Land Registry website. It will cost us £80, the fee does vary depending on the house value. It seems fairly straightforward, so hopefully will be sorted soon.

[Leggibone]

Without giving much in advice - LPA’s are so important to have on file, and make sure you have an upto date will, Remember if someone dies or there a divorce to revisit,
being your neck Of the woods I’d surmise your house could effect your IHT liabilities (along with your shares in Costa!) so make sure to check that in your consultation as to your best course of action.

[arosiem]

Originally Posted by Rac20

I’d recommend doing your own based on my experience of using a solicitor. When DS was born DH and I made a will that obviously was based around him. Well when DS2 came along, it cost me about £120 to add 3 words- his first, middle and last name. 🙄

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Yes, it would - adding a person into a Will is essentially changing the entire thing - it’s not as simple as just ‘adding it in’ unfortunately.

[ROBBOTOO]

Not Will related, but LPA.

My mum asked if I could help with the paperwork for hers, naming my sister and I. She gets a pension credit, so there was no cost to sort hers at all.

Don’t pay a solicitor to do something you can easily do yourself following the guidelines. You may not even have to pay at all, if someone gets certain qualifying benefits like in the case of my mum.