Wills

[Dnk]

Are cheap wills worth the paper they're written on ?

[Burna]

1 hour ago, Dnk said:

Are cheap wills worth the paper they're written on ?

If you decide to leave everything to me, then I hope so!  lol

[Frank Bullitt]

You can do your own. It just depends if you could foresee anything being contested once you are gone. Even expensive wills can be broken with enough money.

Edited November 18, 2020 by Frank Bullitt (see edit history)

[Dnk]

22 hours ago, Burna said:

If you decide to leave everything to me, then I hope so!  lol

[Dnk]

21 hours ago, Frank Bullitt said:

You can do your own. It just depends if you could foresee anything being contested once you are gone. Even expensive wills can be broken with enough money.

I guess which is what concerns me, think i'll be getting some advice from a solicitor then rather 

than do the bargin bucket job 

[Frank Bullitt]

7 hours ago, Dnk said:

I guess which is what concerns me, think i'll be getting some advice from a solicitor then rather 

than do the bargin bucket job 

Just remember wills can be broken, an example below for you.

A family friend passed away a few years ago who had started an Oyster farm. He built it up from the ground over 40 years and turned it in to a multi-million pound business. His son was completely disinherited as he had tried to put his dad out of business. His son asked for his inheritance early to “help him set up a business” but he neglected to be truthful with his dad and say the business was going to be direct competition with his and that he had already tried stealing customers he supplied. Due to this they hadn’t spoken in over 20 years. 

Long story short, when he died, all the money, property and business were left to the daughter and her children. Nothing to the son. The day of the funeral his son was seeking legal advice rather than burying his dad. Due to the son and the daughters greed, with both sides continually arguing via lawyers they lost out. The lawyers took most of the inheritance and by the time the arguments had been settled, what was left was split 50/50. 
 

This was despite his last wishes of wanting to leave his entire estate to his daughter, grandchildren and the will being “watertight & unbreakable”.

Edited November 19, 2020 by Frank Bullitt (see edit history)

[mwilkinson]

I'd personally get one compiled by a solicitor.  Why leave something so potentially important to chance?

Edited November 19, 2020 by mwilkinson (see edit history)

[SPG]

Also remember to update it, as your circumstances/possessions etc will change with time. 

[Dnk]

18 hours ago, Frank Bullitt said:

Just remember wills can be broken, an example below for you.

A family friend passed away a few years ago who had started an Oyster farm. He built it up from the ground over 40 years and turned it in to a multi-million pound business. His son was completely disinherited as he had tried to put his dad out of business. His son asked for his inheritance early to “help him set up a business” but he neglected to be truthful with his dad and say the business was going to be direct competition with his and that he had already tried stealing customers he supplied. Due to this they hadn’t spoken in over 20 years. 

Long story short, when he died, all the money, property and business were left to the daughter and her children. Nothing to the son. The day of the funeral his son was seeking legal advice rather than burying his dad. Due to the son and the daughters greed, with both sides continually arguing via lawyers they lost out. The lawyers took most of the inheritance and by the time the arguments had been settled, what was left was split 50/50. 
 

This was despite his last wishes of wanting to leave his entire estate to his daughter, grandchildren and the will being “watertight & unbreakable”.

Seems pointless making one if that can happen but can't say i'm surprised.

I haven't got millions to argue about but i might be putting some noses out of joint 

with what i want to happen to my estate 

[Dnk]

15 hours ago, SPG said:

Also remember to update it, as your circumstances/possessions etc will change with time. 

I had a will drawn up in 2008 that needs totally changing, my thoughts were to destroy it 

and start again 

[Dnk]

17 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

I'd personally get one compiled by a solicitor.  Why leave something so potentially important to chance?

Yes thats what i'll do, found a local to me who appear to be good and £120 + vat starting price 

[jamesmark]

2 hours ago, Dnk said:

I had a will drawn up in 2008 that needs totally changing, my thoughts were to destroy it 

and start again 

When you get a new will created, it should be standard that the first part of it is declaring you of sound mind and that this will supersedes all other wills and makes them null and void.

 

Both my parents have now gone, my mum being the last one to pass away and she had no will so was an intestate person. But interestingly the solicitors that we (sister and I) instructed were only going to call other solicitors to check they had no known wills within a 3 mile radius. Which means, in theory if your family know about a will, they could get round it by going to a further afield solicitor and claim there is no will. 
 

I believe there is a national will register, but I do not know if that is a mandatory requirement to register you will on there. 
 

Other way is to get a solicitor to create you a will, then appoint a non beneficiary executor (someone that will know you have passed away) that will make the beneficiaries know about the will and enforce the will through to conclusion. But, as already stated above, still will not combat those who may not respect your wishes and contest the will in court.

[Frank Bullitt]

21 hours ago, Dnk said:

Seems pointless making one if that can happen but can't say i'm surprised.

I haven't got millions to argue about but i might be putting some noses out of joint 

with what i want to happen to my estate 

Our friend would have been so upset and angry at the outcome, this “unbreakable” will cost him a lot of money. I’m just glad he wasn’t here to see it. Money does some very strange things to people, especially when they expect it and don’t get it.

Re your millions, your secret is safe with us! 

[Dnk]

Thanks for the input guys, sadly as they say money is the route of all evil 

 

[KrisM]

After my Dad's second heart attack he updated his will.  He tried to talk to me about it but foolishly I didn't take him on as after near losing him it wasn't a topic I was ready to deal with it.  We were pretty tight and saw each other a lot figured we would look at it at some point.

Weeks later he passed away, I could not find the will anywhere.  Employed a solicitor to check with all other local solicitors if they held it but no luck.  One of his friends had witnessed it and knew what it contained but without a copy.....  I just didn't want the responsibility of being the executer and he hadn't nominated anyone that we knew of so fell to me.  Would have traded the estate for another hour.

I recommend going to a solicitor who specialises in wills and has experience of them being contested.  I had one of his ex girlfriends come out the woodwork looking for tens of thousands and was difficult to deal with.

[Dnk]

1 hour ago, KrisM said:

After my Dad's second heart attack he updated his will.  He tried to talk to me about it but foolishly I didn't take him on as after near losing him it wasn't a topic I was ready to deal with it.  We were pretty tight and saw each other a lot figured we would look at it at some point.

Weeks later he passed away, I could not find the will anywhere.  Employed a solicitor to check with all other local solicitors if they held it but no luck.  One of his friends had witnessed it and knew what it contained but without a copy.....  I just didn't want the responsibility of being the executer and he hadn't nominated anyone that we knew of so fell to me.  Would have traded the estate for another hour.

I recommend going to a solicitor who specialises in wills and has experience of them being contested.  I had one of his ex girlfriends come out the woodwork looking for tens of thousands and was difficult to deal with.

Thanks for your input, sorry for your loss and the following difficulties 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Dnk (see edit history)

[KrisM]

12 minutes ago, Dnk said:

Thanks for your input and sorry for your loss and the following difficulties 

Thanks pal.  Just highlighting my experience and hope maybe motivates people to do it today and not wait. 

[Dnk]

Ok thought i'd update this, local Solicitor has quoted me £210 inc vat for my will and £810 inc 

vat + £80 court fee to do the LPA, ouch at the LPA 

[Frank Bullitt]

24 minutes ago, Dnk said:

Ok thought i'd update this, local Solicitor has quoted me £210 inc vat for my will and £810 inc 

vat + £80 court fee to do the LPA, ouch at the LPA 

I thought power of attorney was when your faculties were no longer up to the job and executor for when you give up breathing.

[Dnk]

1 hour ago, Frank Bullitt said:

I thought power of attorney was when your faculties were no longer up to the job and executor for when you give up breathing.

I've pretty much done it online on the dotguv site, just need to fine tune my wishes if i lose the plot as 

regards my cash, was surprisingly easy.

Yep LPA takes over running your life till you die then the executor makes sure your will is done as you wished 

 

[Dnk]

I'm trying to find out if i can put a condition into my will but it seems a grey area.

I own 50% of a comercial property that is rented out, I'd like to leave this to a person 

but to make life easier on my business partner I'd like it so that the person i leave it 

to can't sell their half for say 1 year but will receive any income it creates during that year.

[Dnk]

Apparently it can be done but i need to set up a trust and appoint trustees/guardians etc

[jamesmark]

24 minutes ago, Dnk said:

Apparently it can be done but i need to set up a trust and appoint trustees/guardians etc

That is what we have done with our wills, if head office or I both pass away before my kids are 25, then the estate goes into trust and they only inherit our estate on their 25th birthday. 

 

Same as the cash I am putting away each month for each of them, they will not get that until they are 21, same principal I need to appoint to ensure it happens if we pop it before they are 21.

[mwilkinson]

Quite common Dunk and worth it.

Both my wife and I have wills which include trusts.  Both wills, via a solicitor, were a little over £1k.

[Dnk]

14 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

Quite common Dunk and worth it.

Both my wife and I have wills which include trusts.  Both wills, via a solicitor, were a little over £1k.

Definitely something for me to think about