Supporting a sustainable future
Making a will
Who needs to make a will?
- Everyone over the age of 18 who has possessions
- Everyone whose marital status changes needs to make or revise their will
- Everyone who has dependents
- Everyone whose assets exceed the Inheritance Tax threshold (currently £263,000)
Why make a will?
By making a will you retain control over what happens to your assets after you die. Without a will, they will be divided up according to a legal formula, or if you have no dependents, it may go straight to the Inland Revenue. In other words, your choices are ignored. Even if you are married, without a will everything might not go to your spouse.
Making a will need not be expensive or difficult, and it brings peace of mind, giving you control over your affairs and removes uncertainty for those left behind.
A will is a legal document. To ensure your wishes will be carried out exactly how you want, it is recommended that you seek advice from a solicitor or other professional advisor. Ask friends for a recommendation or look in Yellow Pages.
What to ask a solicitor
Ask them if they specialise in ‘Wills and Probate’. Ask them for their charges. All solicitors should be able to give you a rough idea of costs before you begin. If necessary, ask if they will come to your home to take your instructions.
Before you meet a solicitor
There are a number of things to think about before you see your solicitor. By considering them in advance you could save time and money.
- What assets do you own?
- Whom would you like to benefit from your estate?
- Do you have any special instructions – perhaps about funeral arrangements
- Who do you want to appoint as your executor to ensure your will is carried out after your death?
Assets
Assets are all your possessions, financial investments, insurance policies, property, everything you own.
The solicitor needs to know this for several reasons:
- If your estate (the total value of your assets at the time of your death) is likely to be more than the Inheritance Tax threshold, your solicitor will advise you of various ways to reduce this tax burden.
- Different types of assets will need to be handled in different ways.
- When a person dies, the Will has to go to Probate. To obtain Probate, the Executor (person you decide will process the will) has to trace all your assets before Probate can be granted. If a record of your assets exists from the time the Will was made, this makes the executor’s role a bit easier.
- In looking at your assets, you may decide that you want to give some parts of your estate in the same form that they are currently, e.g. if you have shares, you may want to pass them on as shares, rather than selling the shares and just passing on the value.
- If the will does not encompass all your assets, this may mean that your affairs are declared partially intestate, and in this case an administrator may be appointed to determine how the remainder of the estate is divided.
Beneficiaries
The choice of beneficiaries and how you divide your estate is completely up to you: family, friends, charities. You can leave money, specific items like jewellery, property, etc, to anyone you wish. However, if you have a partner sharing a house at the time of writing your will, you may wish to ensure that any monetary gifts to others will not require the sale of the property being lived in by the surviving partner. Your solicitor will advise you on how to avoid this.
Beneficiaries may be of any age. You will need to give full name and address details of all beneficiaries.
As well as considering family, relatives and friends, many people take the opportunity to leave a bequest to a cause they have supported or been involved with throughout their life. Others take this opportunity to support something they believe in.
Executors
The Executor(s) is/are the people you nominate to carry out all the instructions in your will. You may choose up to four people, though one person, plus a professional advisor is more common. They will be responsible for obtaining probate, which they do by identifying the assets of the deceased person and paying outstanding debts. They then fulfil the bequests according to the will.
In particular, it is the duty of an executor to maximise the value of the estate, e.g. getting the best price for property, shares, etc. This is very important as it can make a significant difference to the amount beneficiaries receive.
An executor may be a beneficiary of your will.
Witnesses
To become a legal document, a will must be signed and witnessed by two people. The witnesses must not be beneficiaries of the will. If you prepare your will through a solicitor or other professional, they will provide the witnesses.
Special wishes
By writing a will you can also specify the type of funeral you want, even down to the hymns, the location, choice of burial or cremation and scattering of ashes. You can also specify if you would like donations to a favourite charity instead of flowers.
Inheritance tax
Inheritance Tax is payable by your estate on everything above the current threshold (£263,000, usually set by the Chancellor each year in the budget), except for that which goes directly to your spouse.
It can be complicated and if you have made a will through a solicitor they will help you review your liability for tax and how you can reduce it. One way to reduce tax liability is to make a gift to a charity as this is taken from your estate before the tax assessment is made.
- If you already have a will you might like to see the section on Updating your will to add a legacy gift to HDRA
For more information, or to discuss how a legacy gift could be used, please contact
Myles Bremner, Chief Executive, Garden Organic, Garden Organic Ryton, Coventry CV8 3LG
Telephone 024 7630 8207 or email chiefexecutive@gardenorganic.org.uk
Top of pageGarden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
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