The importance of making a will has never been more vital but of equal importance is ensuring your Will is drafted correctly, by taking very careful consideration on decisions that allocate your estate.

There is currently a wave of television programmes tackling inheritance and probate issues and they have begun to show the alarming after effects that drafting an incorrect will can cause.

One major source of problems with wills, is where people re-marry, something which is happening more frequently.

Will-writing can be a complex issue, and it is vital to have the work carried out by professional will-writers who deal with these issues every day of their working lives. I have come across some very sad cases where people have carried out simple DIY wills, only for someone to find out, when it was too late, that the will didn’t go anywhere near serving its purpose. I would strongly urge anyone to be very careful that their wishes are protected by a properly crafted last will and testament.

It’s also important to note that the laws regarding inheritance in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different to those in England and Wales, so it is important to take this into account when crafting a will.

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A staggering 27 million people do not have a will to secure their assets when they die. Are you one of the 27 million at risk from this ‘wills time bomb’?

Death is never a comfortable subject to discuss but frighteningly few of us are planning ahead for the day when it will arrive. Research conducted by the National Consumer Council (NCC) revealed that more than 27 million people in England and Wales do not have a will, leaving their estate wide open. Scarier still, 30% of individuals aged 65 and over — that’s nearly two million people with a life expectancy of less than 20 years — have not made a will.

I know, that you’re probably thinking, “do I really need a Will” or commonly “I’ll get round to it later, as I don’t need to worry about this for a while”.

To answer the first point Basically, if you have children or something to leave, then you should make a will.

Property-owners who are co-habiting should take particular care. Currently, more than four out of five cohabiting couples (83%) do not have a will. Yet despite common misconception to the contrary, unmarried cohabiting couples have no automatic right to inherit their partner’s assets. Your only hope would be to try and claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

If you think that sounds like it might be difficult, then you’d be right. Claims need to be submitted within six months of the Grant of Letters of Administration, and even then there’s still no guarantee that you’ll succeed. You will also need a solicitor to fight your corner, which could be very expensive.

A scarier example still is if you are separated but not divorced. In this circumstance your surviving spouse could end up with the keys to your house, even if your relationship has already ended.

Property listed as ‘joint tenancy’ as opposed to ‘tenants in common’ passes on by survivorship, not by will. So if the house is still in joint names and you die, then your unwanted partner should be entitled to the whole property simply because they have survived you.

Money, Money, Money

Under Intestacy laws in England and Wales, if you have no will but were married and your estate is worth £125,000 or less, then everything will go to your husband, wife, or civil partner.

Things get slightly more complicated if your estate is worth more than £125,000. Spouses and civil partners receive just £125,000, or £200,000 if there are no children, along with personal items, such as household articles and other items used for personal use.

The balance is then split between other surviving relatives – so the danger is, if your family home is worth more than £125,000, it may have to be sold in order to pay out these relatives, potentially leaving your spouse homeless.

And, if you are unmarried and have no close surviving relatives, in the worst case scenario, your entire estate could even end up going to the Crown.

Protect Your Children

According to the NCC, 79% of parents fail to make provisions for their children before they die.

Yet if you have children under 18 and a guardian is not identified in a will, then the courts could appoint one of their choice.

Scary Isn’t it and I believe most people haven’t made a Will because they are simply unaware of the consequences of not doing so.

How Much Does A Will Cost?

So how much does a will cost? Less than you may think. Naturally, it all depends on your needs, but in most cases, you’ll pay around £100 for a single and between £150 for joint mirror wills (when a couple leaves the same assets to each other).

My prices are fixed and listed

You could of course consider doing it yourself, as there are plenty of choices available however, if you’re dividing up an estate that’s worth a lot more than the paper your will would be written on, then it pays to seek professional help. Sorting out a badly worded will could end up costing your heirs dearly.

You should also ensure your will is kept up to date. I suggest that you review your will every five years or after major life changes such a separation, divorce, or a change in financial circumstances. Changes are especially important if you get married or enter into a civil partnership, as this will revoke an earlier will, unless it is expressly made in contemplation of your marriage/partnership and certain requirements are met.

Finally, it is important that you choose sensible executors (the people you wish to carry out the task of administering your estate after your death).

Many people mistakenly believe that if you are a beneficiary, you cannot also be an executor. This is not true. However, you cannot be a beneficiary (or the spouse of a beneficiary) and a witness to the will.

Death is never a pleasant topic to discuss, but making the right preparations in advance could save you, and more importantly your loved ones a lot of hassle in the future. After all, once you’re dead, it will be too late…

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Nearly 60 pensioners a day are forced to sell their homes to pay for a place in a care home amid a crisis in provision for the elderly.

By Murray Wardrop Daily Telegraph 09 Nov 2010

www.Telegraph.co.uk

In the past year, more than 20,000 pensioners were forced to sell their houses to meet expensive residential care home fees due to a system which penalises hard-working savers.

Figures disclose that the trend has increased by 17 per cent in the past five years with more than 100,000 having abandoned their homes to pay care home bills.

Under the current means-testing system in England, anyone with assets of more £23,500 – including their house – has to pay in full for their care. Everyone below that figure gets their care free.

Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley who obtained the statistics on which the estimates are based, told the Daily Mail: “This is one of the great scandals of Labour’s time in office.

“People spent sensibly for years and built up savings so they can pass on their home to their children – and now they see it taken off them to pay for care.

“This is possibly the biggest reason behind the culture of people thinking ‘It’s not worth me saving. I’ll spend all I can and when I run out the state will pay for everything’.”

The figures are based on research by health care analysts Laing & Buisson and the House of Commons Library.

They show that at April 2010, around 47,000 had sold their homes to pay for care costs. On the basis that the average care home stay in England is 26 months, it is estimated that between April 2009 and March 2010, around 21,700 sold their home – the equivalent of 59 every day.

Care home fees are around £32,600 a year on average for those who receive nursing care and around £23,140 a year for those who do not.

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By LUKE SALKELD – Daily Mail online
3rd November 2010

The ex-wife and the girlfriend of a millionaire estate agent both forged a will in a dispute over his fortune, a court heard yesterday.

Chris John died suddenly at the age of 47, leaving a property portfolio and sports cars – but no will.

His girlfriend Gillian Clemo used a forged will to try to ensure she could stay in the luxury home the couple had shared, the jury was told.

His former wife Helen John, 48, who had split from her husband ‘acrimoniously’ after his affair with Clemo, then altered that will after discovering that their divorce had never been officially finalised, it was said.

The alleged fraud and counter fraud began after Mr John, who once sold a property to singer Charlotte Church, died of a brain haemorrhage. There was no sign of a will deciding how his estate should be divided.

Clemo, 57, is said to have wanted Mr John’s sisters to be appointed as executors, so she would be allowed to continue living in the Cardiff house.

John Philpotts, prosecuting, told Newport Crown Court: ‘When no will was discovered there developed a dispute as to who should administrate the estate. On the one hand were the two sisters and on the other hand Helen John. No agreement could be reached.’

‘Mrs Clemo wanted the sisters to be executors so she would be allowed to stay in the house.’

The court heard Clemo then swore an affidavit that the will, which left the estate to Mr John’s daughter when she reached 27, was real and that she had witnessed it.

But Mr Philpotts said handwriting experts decided it was not Mr John who had signed the will. ‘In addition there was the fact that Mr John’s daughter’s name was spelled wrongly,’ he said.

Talking about the will, Mrs John told the court: ‘I was shown a copy. It was on A4 white paper with a couple of lines written on it. It immediately struck me that it didn’t look like my husband’s signature.’

Mrs John admitted forging a modification to the will, although details were not given in court. She said she had been worried about her daughter’s inheritance, said to be worth millions.

The jury heard she had been given a formal caution by police instead of being taken to court.

Clemo denies using a forged will under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act.

The trial continues.

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Guardian – 23rd October 2010

By -Mark King

Consumer report shows widespread ‘wills apathy’ among British adults despite the risks to loved-ones of dying intestate

The UK is suffering from “wills apathy”, with more than 30 million adults failing to make provisions for when they die, according to research published today.

Almost nine out of 10 under-35s and two thirds of those aged between 35 and 54 are living without a will, despite 92% of people having a firm idea of who they would like to see their money go to when they die, according to the survey by unbiased.co.uk.

The financial advice website also revealed that more than a third (36%) of those aged over 55 have yet to make a will. The total figure of those without a will is a 2 million increase on last year.

Apathy remains the number one reason, with 36% saying they just haven’t got round to sorting it out yet, and 8% that it never occurred to them. Almost one fifth (18%) don’t think they have anything of value to leave behind and 10% claimed they would never make a will.

Dying intestate (without a will) means the government will decide the order of who gets what from your estate – and if no one comes forward then the government will take the lot. Not having a will in place could also result in inheritance tax being due before the estate is released, so grieving families may be forced to take out expensive loans in order to release the assets.

Despite these potential costs of dying intestate, 7% of people questioned said the cost of making a will was a factor – the cost of seeking legal advice to write a will can be as low as £120 for singles and £200 for couples. NB. I provide a single will for £99 and a Mirror Will for £149 both of these prices are fixed and include VAT – see my services and prices page.

Under current rules, children not named in a will are only entitled to an inheritance if there is no surviving spouse or if the estate is worth more than £250,000. Despite this, 57% of those without a will would like to leave some assets to their children and 69% would like to leave some assets to another relative. Shockingly, 70% of adults with children under 18 do not have a will, rising from 65% last year.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, said: “Thinking about the possibility of something bad happening to you is never an easy topic but nevertheless, it is hugely important. Our research clearly shows that the nation is gripped by ‘wills apathy’, leaving a large proportion of spouses, partners and children unprotected should anything happen to a partner or parent.

“Many people are simply unaware that should they die without a will, their assets are distributed according to the rules of intestacy – meaning their assets may not be going to those they would like them to go to.”

Drawing up a will doesn’t have to be a daunting process. We will come to you and explain the process and take your instruction meaning you can get your affairs in order so that your family or friends receive the inheritance you wish them to.

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BBC News 11th August 2010
Reporter: Peter Jackson

It may not come as a huge surprise that communist and anti-capitalist philosopher Karl Marx died a poor man.

But why did the German, who had seven children by his wife and died in north London, leave his meagre £250 (£23,000 today) to his youngest daughter Eleanor?

New online records are offering tantalising insights into the financial affairs of famous figures from the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Official summaries, or indexes, of more than six million wills from 1861 to 1941 have been put online for the first time.

They took about a year-and-a-half to digitise, and reveal a fortune of more than £20bn.

Once-rich polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left even less than Marx, the records show.

By the time he died in 1922, he was down to £556 (£20,000 today), having lost his fortune in a series of failed business schemes.

Naturalist Charles Darwin, by contrast, left the Victorian equivalent of about £13m today, and Charles Dickens £7m.

The probate calendar books for England and Wales present easily accessible records for historians and academics who have had to rely on paper searches until now.

But they also allow people to research their own family trees and tales of lost fortunes and wealthy ancestors.

Historic feuds and branching family trees mean many mysteries of missing millions will never be solved.

But the new online archive claims to bring amateur historians one step closer to discovering the truth.

Searches allow you to find the value of an estate, and learn more about someone’s social standing and worldly possessions.

The documents give names, dates and places of death, executors, and in some cases who inherited the estate.

The documents, which originally came from the Probate Office, have been put online by family history website Ancestry, a US company which charges subscribers for accessing the information.

The National Archives, a government agency, has in the past struck up similar licensing partnerships with Ancestry and other private firms to put its public records online.

Audrey Collins, the Archives’ family history specialist, said: “Wills are a wonderful resource for family history because they are full of names.

“Better yet, individuals and family relationships were often described in detail, because it was important that the right person got the money – or didn’t, as the case may be.

Common name

“Some of the best wills were left by people who named lots of relatives, even if the value of their estate was not very great.

“Spinsters and childless widows often left wills naming all their nieces and nephews, so you should never neglect the females in the family.”

She added: “Even indexes on their own are useful, as they usually contain more details than death index entries, so they can help identify the right entry if the person has a common name.”

Details of one million wills from 1384 to 1858 – including Shakespeare’s – were put online by the National Archives in 2004.

The latest documents date from the period after that, when the administration of wills was transferred from the Church to the state.

Ms Collins added: “There is no single ‘one-stop shop’ for wills in England and Wales, so the family historian may have to look in a number of different places.

“As more indexes are made accessible, it becomes easier for researchers to find the records that they need, wherever they are kept.”

Research by Ancestry suggests more than two million people in Britain – or 6% of the population – claim to know of a wealthy ancestor.

Ancestry director Dan Jones said: “Anyone able to find an ancestor in the probate calendar books will be able to find out a great deal about how their ancestor lived, what they bequeathed and to whom.”

The continual digitising of public records shows no sign of slowing down, and in recent years has included documents on crime, immigration, war, education, taxation and religion.

The National Archives says that has been made possible through licensing partnerships with commercial companies as it does not have the funding itself.

It says the funds it receives from the partnership scheme allow it to reinvest in its services.

This latest archive will no doubt throw up some fascinating stories, but will any match the unusual will of Canadian lawyer and financier Charles Vance Millar, a noted practical joker?

He offered the bulk of his estate to the Toronto woman who had the greatest number of children in the 10 years after his death, in 1926.

Attempts were made by his would-be heirs to invalidate it, but the will stood and his fortune eventually went to four women.

Historic rich list: Some famous names

Chocolate producer John Cadbury left £43,773 (£4.2m today) in 1889
Cricketer W G Grace left £7,278 (£620,000 today) in 1915
Scientist Michael Faraday left £6,000 (£500,000 today) in 1867
Author Lewis Carroll left £4,145 (£450,000 today) in 1898
Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle left £63,491 (£3m today) in 1931

Thomas Holloway (1800 – 1883)

• The patent medicine seller left one of the largest estates in the index – £600,000 (£55m today).
• He made his fortune selling pills and ointments, and spent large amounts of money advertising them.
• Scientific tests after his death showed few of his products contained any ingredients considered of significant medicinal value.

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Article by: James Salmon

Bereaved families are being preyed upon by banks and unregulated probate firms which charge thousands of pounds to execute the estate of their loved ones.

Money Mail and consumer group Which? have separately investigated the often-murky world of will-writing and probate services – the legal process of handling the affairs of the deceased.

We found shocking evidence of:

• High Street banks charging almost twice as much as solicitors for probate services;
• Grieving relatives subjected to ‘hard-sell’ tactics;
• Banks automatically appointing themselves as executors of wills;
• Unregulated firms left free to give poor advice; and
• Bereaved families prevented from shopping around for better deals. executing or administering the estates of the deceased is a lucrative business for banks, solicitors and specialist probate and will-writing firms, with estimates saying it is worth more than half a billion pounds a year.

When someone dies, executors must deal with the financial details such as the sale of assets, paying bills and distribution of the estate among the beneficiaries.

Families can often do this themselves, with the whole process costing no more than a few hundred pounds.

But banks are exploiting the fears of customers and appointing themselves as executors.

Consumer group Which? sent eight undercover researchers to make 42 visits or calls to solicitors, specialist will-writers and banks around the UK posing as divorcees wanting to write a will.

They found that banks will charge on average £10,830 for executing a typical £270,000 estate – around double the £ 4,759 charged by will- writers and £5,199 by solicitors.

Barclays is the most expensive of the High St reet giants, with an average charge of £13,395.

A common ploy is to lure customers in with cheap wills costing as little as £75.

The Which? report also says banks appoint themselves as executor. James Daley, editor of Which? Money, says: ‘These extortionate charges are completely unjustifiable. There is no need to have a professional executor in many cases. Most people have no idea what they should be paying. As they are going through a traumatic time in their lives, they are an easy target.

‘It’s disgraceful that banks are insisting they are named sole or joint executor, and for that privilege they are taking thousands of pounds in fees from the estate.’

The Office of Fair Trading says other firms, including solicitors and will-writers, are also guilty of burying charges in the small print.

David Stallibrass, from the OFT, adds: ‘Customers thinking they are getting a cheap will are unwittingly signing themselves up for executor services costing thousands of pounds.

Firms are not making it clear that you don’t need to appoint a professional executor, and that with simple estates you can do the probate yourself.’

The banks all say they make this clear to customers. A spokesman for Barclays says: ‘We are working to review and simplify our fee structures on probate pricing, and are looking to introduce more fixed-fee pricing.

‘Both executorships and trustee services are comprehensive services covering all aspects of whatever is necessary to fulfil the appropriate duties.

‘The relationship is managed throughout by an experienced professional, with an average of more than 20 years in the business.’

A Lloyds Banking group spokesman says: ‘Our fees are clear and transparent, and are explained up front to our customers. They reflect the quality, completeness and expertise of the service we offer.’

An HSBC spokesman says: ‘Our rates are specifically designed to be fair to customers, focusing on charging for the work being completed, not on a higher percentage fee based on the estate value.

‘The will-writing form and documentation clearly states in a number of places in bold that it is necessary to appoint HSBC as sole or joint executor.

‘Staff are instructed to explain clearly that if a customer does not want to appoint HSBC, then they should be referred to a local solicitor of the customer’s choice, or to a specific solicitor with nationwide coverage to write their will.’

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