Key considerations when making a Will

We don’t like to think about life after we’ve gone, but it’s important to plan to ensure your family is provided for, so what would happen if you didn’t have a Will in place upon your death?

If you die without a valid Will, the law will determine how your money and property is distributed. This will depend on many factors, such as whether you are married or have children and the value of your estate, but the result might not be what you want or expect.

Here are some circumstances which may be relevant to you:w

• If you are married with children, your spouse may have to share the estate with your children.
• If you die while your children are young, they will inherit your estate on reaching 18.
• If you are not married, your partner will not be entitled to anything.
• If you have lost touch with your closest relatives, they will have to be found before the estate can be administered.
• If you have no close relatives, your estate will go to the Crown.

How often should a Will be updated?

It’s a good idea to review your Will every few years, but you should definitely update it if your circumstances change, such as if you get married or divorced, have a child, someone named in your Will dies, or if your financial situation changes significantly. This is to make sure that your Will reflects your current wishes and circumstances. If you don’t update it, your estate might not be distributed in the way you would have wanted.

You can change your Will as often as you like, so if your circumstances change your Will can be amended to reflect this. A small change might be made by a Codicil to the Will, which must be signed and witnessed in the same way, but in this era of document management systems it is often simpler and clearer to make a new Will.

Here are some important points to remember:

• You don’t have to change your Will just because you move house or because someone named in your Will changes their name or address.
• If you get married, your Will is automatically cancelled unless it was made ‘in expectation’ of the marriage.
• If you get divorced, your Will then takes effect as if your former husband or wife had died before you.