A will, like a Lasting Power of Attorney, should be seen as one of life’s essential documents.   We believe that cost should not be a barrier to making a will.  You can spread payments over as many as 10 months INTEREST FREE depending on your circumstances.*

Wills do not have to be:

• written in fancy language – “I give, devise and bequeath…” can simply be written as “I give…”;
• complicated – like you, most people want to appoint family, friends or professionals as their executors and give property to loved ones or charity.  Our wills trusts are easy to understand; nor
• expensive – we offer affordable wills.

We draft your will:

• in clear, easy to understand language; and
• quickly – we aim to have a draft will out to you within 3 working days.

* subject to terms and conditions.

One of the first things you must consider is who is going to be your executor.  An executor is a person who will:

• collect together all of your assets;
• get those assets valued – in smaller estates estimates are adequate;
• apply for the grant of probate;
• pay any debts or bill you might have had, funeral expenses and any inheritance tax if payable;
• sell your assets or distribute your assets in accordance with the terms of your will; and
• prepare estate accounts and provide these to beneficies – normally only the ‘residuary beneficiaries’ (those that get your estate after the payments of debts etc and any other gifts) and those beneficiaries that you have given property to subject to the payment of debt or subject to the payment of inheritance tax (for instance, “I give Yew Tree Cottage to Samuel Davies, subject to the payment of inheritance tax.”).

You can have any number of executors, but only the first four can take the grant of probate – see our FAQs page for more details.

You will see that your executors have quite a lot to do.  Whoever you appoint you should be confident that they have the skills (or will ask for help).  Possible executors include:

• family – usually your husband, wife or civil partner, brothers or sisters;
• close friend; or
• a solicitor, accountant, bank or the Public Trustee.*

* Your estate will incur charges for the executor services provided.  Some people do not want to appoint professionals to be executors because costs will be incurred, but if you appoint family or friends who need help and see a solicitor then costs will be incurred in any event.

We can guide you on appropriate executors.

There are generally fours classes of gifts (sometimes also called legacies).  These are:

• pecuniary gifts – these are gifts of money, e.g. “I give Katherine Davies £1,000”;
• specific gifts – these are gifts of particular items of yours, e.g. “I give Samuel Davies my Rolex Day Date watch number 123456” and if you do not have the item at the date of death – because you have sold it – then, the beneficiary gets nothing;
• general gifts – unlike specific gifts, the wording in these types of gifts does not use the term “my” e.g.  “I give to Samuel Davies a Rolex Milgauss watch.”  and so your executors will have to buy a Rolex Milgauss watch to fulfill the legacy and
• residuary legacy – this is a “mopping up” gift after all other gifts, e.g. “My executors shall hold the Residuary Fund for my Sally Davies absolutely”.  The term “Residuary Fund” would be defined as being whatever remained after making any of the other types of gift and the payment of all debts and inheritance tax.

Will trusts are used to split property into different interests or to defer when beneficiaries might receive property.  Examples include:

• life interest trusts e.g. “I give £100,000 to Anna for life, remainder to Ben.”  Anna will receive the interest for the whole of her life and when she dies Ben will receive £100,000.  Such trusts can be useful when considering carehome fees or benefitting your second husband, wife or civil partner and the children of your first marriage or civil partnership.
• contingent trusts e.g. Charlotte makes the following gift, “I give to my nephew Andrew my Barclays Bank account number 1234567 if he attains the age of 25”.  Andrew will have the right to the income from the date of the Charlotte’s death, but the cash in the bank account will be held on trust for Andrew until he is 25.
• discretionary trusts.  Here you have a class of beneficiaries, such as your children and grandchildren and you leave your trustees to decide how the trust property is distributed between them.  A discretionary trust has lots of flexibility as to how income and capital is distributed.

We have more than 20 years of experience drafting wills.  That means we have the depth of knowledge and experience to help you to appoint the right executors, guide you on the types of gifts you can make and advise you on trust provisions, if applicable.

Our solicitor approved wills are creative, effective and affordable.