Or how long is a piece of string?

Wills can be simple and straightforward, or as complex as you want them to be.

The shortest Will was just three words, “All to Mother”, but it was contested so probably wasn’t the cheapest!

A professionally written Will by a qualified solicitor will be in the region of £200-£300 and as part of the process the solicitor will identify any issues that should be considered especially any impact of Inheritance Tax which may become chargeable at 40%!

If your matters are straightforward and you do not require guidance on tax, inheritance, capacity or minimising tax liability, then our online service may be for you. It will enable you to prepare a detailed and legally compliant Will for as little as £45.

Generally, you should make a Will at the earliest opportunity. For a Will to be legally recognised you must be at least 18 years old.

It becomes more important when you have accumulated assets or money and also at any key life milestones—so basically whenever your personal circumstances change, e.g.

• Marriage or Civil Partnership—An earlier Will becomes invalid on marriage/civil partnership so a new one will be needed
• Buying a home (either alone or jointly)—who will get your share if you die?
• Divorce or separation—to ensure an ex-partner doesn’t inherit
• Unmarried partner—an unmarried partner has no right to inherit, so make a Will to protect them
• Starting a business—succession planning, who will carry it on if you die?
• Windfall or inheritance—who would get what on your death?
• In any event, when you do have a Will, you should review it every 5-10 years to see if it is still appropriate or needs amending.

A new Will automatically revokes an old one. So if your circumstances do change and you need to make an another, your old Will ceases to be effective when your new Will is complete. However it is wise to either destroy your old Will or mark it as revoked to prevent any confusion in your absence.

No—a Will is personal to the maker (the Testator). A spouse or partner can make a Will in similar terms. This is known as “Mirror Wills” (which is where one reflects the other).

You can also make a Mutual Will which is very different.

Mirror Wills are identical, separate Wills—usually leaving assets to each other and then to the children/grandchildren. Mirror Wills can be changed at any time.

Mutual Wills are a binding contract that prevents a surviving partner from altering their Will after the first death. If you are contemplating a Mutual Will  then specialist advice should be obtained.

A Will made in England or Wales can deal with overseas assets but the process is complex, costly and uncertain.

You should prepare a Will in the country in which the asset is held. Your overseas Will should make clear that it only applies to assets held in that country—while your English/Welsh Will should deal with all other assets worldwide, with the exception of that specific country.

The general rule is that any gift to a beneficiary who passes before you lapses—unless you provide a substitutional gift in your Will to cover this eventuality.

However  section 33 of the Wills Act 1837 provides that where gifts are left to a Testator’s children, the gift will not lapse if the child dies first. Instead the gift passes to the deceased’s own children, i.e. the Testator’s grandchildren.

No—your local authority will include most assets in any financial assessment to decide your contribution to care home fees. If you or your spouse/partner are entering into full time care and one of you continues to occupy the family home, then the home is exempt from this. However, if the person remaining in the family home dies and the one in care inherits, then the whole property is included in the financial assessment.

In a carefully prepared Will you can include provision known as a “life interest trust” which provides that on death, the deceased’s share of the property may be used by the survivor until they enter into full time care and when they do the deceased’s share passes to the remaining beneficiaries. Specialist advice will be required if a life interest trust is required because there will also need to be an amendment to the property title at HM Land Registry to reflect that the property is held by spouses/partners as tenants in common for the trust to take effect.

At Wills Online we specialise in creating online wills—it’s a simple as that.

If your needs are more complex and you need specialist advice for things like planning for inheritance tax or setting up a trust then we have a network of trusted partners who can help. Full contact details for the law firms we recommend for this are on our Let’s Talk About Wills page.

It sounds like you need specialist legal and estate planning advice. You may even need to set up a Trust.

This is beyond the scope of the online Wills that we provide—but we do have a network of trusted legal partners that will be able to  advise and act on your behalf in this capacity.

For full details of our affiliated law firms are available on our Let’s Talk About Wills page.