At Inheritance Legal Services we pride ourselves on offering advice to our clients rather than try to ‘sell’ services to them, so with this in mind we quite often tell clients about what they do not need and what they do not need to worry about. This can start at the very basics by deciding if you need a will.

When it comes to deciding if you need a will it can be as straight forward as answering the following questions:

–          Do you have children under 18?

–          If you were to add up everything you own does it amount to more than £5,000?

If it is yes, then quite simply you NEED a will.

So why is it relevant if you have children under 18?

Well, it’s not the answer you might first think of (a lot people think it is to do with making sure they inherit your assets and therefore dismiss needing a will on this reason) it is actually about naming guardians for your children in your will should something happen to you and the child’s other parent. Most people wrongly assume that if you were to die your child would automatically go to a family member or friend who will adopt them with no real hassle, the reality can be very different. First of all if you were to die, your child would go to their other parent named on the birth certificate. This could be a Mother/Father they have had no contact with since birth. If that parent decided they did not want to raise their child, they could hand over custody to someone more fitting (like the child’s grandparent).

If both parents die, the child may be taken into care by social services until it is decided by a court who would be the best person to look after the child. This may not be who you would choose!

Simply by naming guardians for your children in your will you can outline who would look after your children if you were to die.

Why is it important to know the value of what you own?

In most cases assets that amount to less than £5000 will go to the person next of kin with no need for ‘probate’ under the ‘rules of intestacy’ (intestacy is where you die without leaving a will). If you have an estate (everything you own) worth over £5000, like a house for instance, do not assume your partner will get everything automatically! If you would like more information making a will or to book a free no obligation appointment for our consultant, give me a call on 01553 860123.

Ryan