Video: Will Writing Tips – 10 Most Important Things Your Will Does
In this Will writing tips video and post from Will and probate Services, we look at the ten most important things that you can do with your Will. Number one, your Will is obviously the document that directs who inherits your wealth when you die. Number two, it appoints the people who will look after your affairs after your death your executives and your trustees. Number three, it allows you to appoint guardians for your children if you’re unfortunate to die while they’re young.
Fourthly, Your Will is a document that’s really important for inheritance tax planning. There are still lots of ways within the law to minimise the tax that your estate will pay when you pass away, your Will is a really critical part of that planning.
Number 5: Look After The Kids
Ensure your children benefit from what you leave behind. More and more of us these days are in blended families where there are children from more than one relationship, quite often after a first death a spouse will remarry and their new partner will benefit from what you left behind. So, making a Will to make sure your children benefit, no matter what happens, is really important.
Number Six: Protect Your Assets
Protecting your assets in the Will means that they’ll be beyond the reach of your local authority, they’ll be away from new partners and new spouses if your wife remarries or your husband remarries after you die, it means that the people you want to inherit will inherit.
Number Seven: Make Sure Your Partner Inherits
I you aren’t married you can include your partner within your Will, it’s the only way they can inherit from you. Inheritance for married couples can only be done by way of a valid Will.
Number Eight: Pay it Forward
A valid Will can allow you to plan for multiple generations to benefit from your wealth. With most of us enjoying longer and longer lives, if you die in your nineties you could find that your children don’t need your money. Chances are they are already independently wealthy, even your grandchildren may well not need to inherit from you. So we can be looking at great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren, some of whom might not even be born!
With the right sort of Will you can ensure that your estate can be distributed across the next 125 years to relatives you don’t know, but who will appreciate what’s left behind for them.
Number Nine: Do It Your Way
Your Will was a great way to make sure your funeral is just the way you want it to be. You can plan your funeral in your Will and give your executors the help they need to make sure the funeral that you get is the funeral that you would have wanted.
Number Ten: Make Sure Your Money Gets to the Right People
It’s not nice but sometimes we have to exclude people. Sometimes there’s a family member who has become estranged or has alienated themselves from the family. Your Will is a document that can be used to exclude them from benefiting, as well as including those that you want to inherit.
If you would like some further Will writing tips, check out some of our other estate planning blog posts. If you would like to look at Writing your Will with us, call now for a free consultation on 01778 752 861.
