With only one third of the UK population having made a Will a lot of people will, by default, leave it for the legal system to determine how their estate is to be distributed on death.
Just think about that for a moment.
If you don’t have a Will, then rather than you making the decision in advance of who will inherit all those things you have worked so hard to accumulate during your lifetime, you are going to leave it to a nameless and faceless legal process to make that decision for you.
Wow…..what a thought!
If you die without a Will, you die ‘intestate’ and under the rules of intestacy it is your next of kin who will inherit, just because they are your ‘nearest’, and that might be exactly what you want, but what happens if your next of kin are not the ‘dearest’ people to you?
If you have an unmarried partner, then he or she, cannot be your next of kin and may be overlooked when it comes to distributing your estate. Ouch!
More distant family members with whom you may have a much closer relationship, such as cousins and grandchildren, may not qualify as next of kin and close friends and charities or other good causes with whom you may have had a lasting relationship can never inherit under the intestacy rules.
So the choice really is yours.
If you want to protect the people you love, you need to make a Will.
If you want to leave financial gifts to friends or extended family, you need to make a Will.
If you want to leave something to a good cause or to a charity, you need to make a Will.
If you want to leave a specific legacy to someone, for example some jewellery or a keep sake or your favourite books, you need to make a Will.
If you don’t want to leave things to chance, you need to make a Will.
So, why not talk through your options with someone who is fully qualified to help you. By all means give us a call for a chat over a coffee and we’ll be delighted to help you avoid having a legal process determine how your estate is to be distributed.
