6 Essential Things You Need To Know About Wills


Being a parent comes with an endless list of tasks, from doing the school run to making sure your kids are eating all of their greens. A key piece of parenting life-admin that often gets overlooked, however, is making a will. Your will sets out what you want to happen to your finances, assets and even children if you pass away, so it’s worth investing some time to make sure you have a valid will drawn up. The specialists over at Ellison Thomas solicitors have put together a few key things that you should know if you have a will, or you’re thinking about drawing one up.

Your will is still valid even if it has the wrong address on it

When you create your will, your current address will be written on it. Many people worry that their will is no longer valid if they now live at a new address, however, this is not the case. As the address is only used for identification purposes, your will remains valid no matter where you live.

If you get married, you’ll need to make a new will

Any wills that you or your partner have are automatically voided once you get married. After the big day, you’ll need to draw up a new will. Should you get divorced, any assets left to your ex partner will simply be distributed amongst the other beneficiaries of your will unless you have made a new will following your separation.

A will can’t go out of date

If you’ve already got a will, even if it’s gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, there’s no need to worry as a will stays valid indefinitely. This means that once your will is written, you’ll never need to make a new one, unless you need to change what’s included in it or make any additions. If you want to make significant changes to your will, you’ll need to make a new will rather than just making official amendments.

You need to sign your will in front of two witnesses

For a will to be valid, you must sign it, and this signature needs to happen in the presence of two valid witnesses. These witnesses cannot be your spouse or partner, or anyone who benefits from the will. For this reason, many people choose to write their will with the help of a solicitor, who can then arrange for suitable witnesses to sign your will.

A will isn’t expensive to draw up

Many people worry that drawing up a will may leave them out of pocket. This is not the case as most solicitors will offer a fixed fee for will writing, so you know exactly how much you’ll be spending. It’s worth making use of a solicitor when writing your will to ensure you don’t miss out any important details, and to make sure it is legally valid.

If you die without a will, the courts and your family will decide what happens to your assets

If you die without a will, the distribution of your finance and assets, and even decisions regarding the care of your children, will be decided by your next of kin or the courts. This could lead to decisions being made that you may not necessarily have wanted. To make sure everything happens as you’d want it to after your death, it’s vital that you make a will to outline your wishes.

* This is a collaborative post

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