Drawing up a Will .. cost / advice etc ..

**Fungus** · 29 December 2005, 23:11

Originally posted by messiah

I'm considering drawing up a will.

how costly is this ?

how will they know you are dead ? is there a scheme whereby u "check in" every year to let them know u are still alive so if you don't it raises the alarm and they go on a search to see whether or not you are dead ?

how much does Gordon Brown get if you are not married and you don't have a will ?

thanks for any advice ... don't want to trawl the web just yet.

About £50 or so I am told. You can buy kits from WHSmith too.

"how will they know you are dead?"

When my mother died, we had to pay two doctors to certify that she was dead before we could cremate her. There's an awful lot of money to be made from death.

However, I had earlier obtained a death certificate, and to get that I needed a form from the hospital. They knew that she had died as she was in hospital at the time. A lot of people die in hospital so they are good at recognising when someone is dead. In fact they often kill them.

Anyway, when I went to a solicitor - I was named as the sole executor - she requested to see a death certificate, a copy of the will, and proof of my identity.

But they (?) won't know that you have died unless someone finds your body. When someone disappears and a body is not found - e.g. goes swimming - they are not declared dead until many years (10?) have elapsed. The recent tsunami meant that many people were presumed to have died and the bodies were not found. The government relaxed the rules so that surviving relatives could claim on insurance policies.

So no, you can't wind up your parents estate while they are on holiday. And no you can't kill them, as that would annul any inheritance. You'll just have to persuade them to go on dangerous sports adventure holidays for the over 60's, until they croak.

Fungus

**EternalOptimist** · 30 December 2005, 08:09

I got a kit from WH Smith for about 10 quid. Then I got a caligraphy kit for a tenner and wrote it all out in Italics - very posh

its very easy, you just have to pick which of the blank forms applies to you, there are five or six iirc.

**cojak** · 30 December 2005, 08:51

Although to make it legal you have to deposit somewhere official. TPTB need to know that a will for you exists.

I'm doing this in the New Year...

**s2budd** · 30 December 2005, 09:08

Wills

The DIY Will kits are good if and only if you do not add anything to them.
If there is anything extra that you would like - for example the sister gets the cat or your sister and brother share the estate equally than go and see a solicitor. The solicitors cost will be about £150 to draw up the will.
Then place the will in your safe and send a copy to others in your family.

**ladymuck** · 30 December 2005, 11:19

Originally posted by zeitghost

My sister & brother-in-law left their two children to me in the event of their demise...

Too late now.

They're too big to send up chimneys...

I'll have to think of another plan B.

But not too big to scrub floors, do general chores and keep in a cupboard under the stairs. Or you could rent them out to Gary Glitter?

**messiah** · 30 December 2005, 12:32

but what happens to your assets if you die and there is no will and you are not married ?

Please don't say 20% goes to Gordon Brown.

**ladymuck** · 30 December 2005, 12:36

I believe it goes to your nearest living relative. If I snuffed it tomorrow, my estate would pass to my parents, not my brother. If my parents were dead then I think it would then go to the nearest living relative of whichever one died last, or maybe my good-for-nothing brother would now get a look-in.

If there are no traceable rellies then it all goes to the state! Yay!

Of course, I could be horribly wrong and therefore take no responsibilty for any action or inaction you may take as a result of my inane witterings.

**ASB** · 30 December 2005, 13:00

It is very important to get it right.

"how much does Gordon Brown get if you are not married and you don't have a will ?"

It is dealt with under the rules of intestacy. If their is no heir under these rules he cops the lot, otherwise he gets zero (or rather the IHT payable if any).

"they are not declared dead until many years (10?) have elapsed."

Generally 7, although this can be contested by other relatives. Lord Lucan was only recently declared dead. As an aside you can get the inverse. My grandmother lived to be 102. After about 95 she had to get a "certificate of existance" for her pension provider - just in case she had croaked and we were pocketing her pension.

"Although to make it legal you have to deposit somewhere official. TPTB need to know that a will for you exists."

No you don't. It's sound advice to. I've got a safe full. TPTB don't need to know a will for you exists - until you are dead.

"The DIY Will kits are good if and only if you do not add anything to them."

Solicitors love them (but there is a certain vested interest there). It has been estimated that about 80% of self drawn wills would fail if challenged as to validity.

Basically if you are not happy for your estate to be dealt with through the intestacy rules (and few are) then you should get a will drawn up by a solicitor. It is perfectly valid to write one yourself on any old scrap of paper, but it is very easy to challenge.

http://www.whitingandpartners.co.uk/...tacy_Rules.htm

**ASB** · 30 December 2005, 13:13

Originally posted by zeitghost

My sister & brother-in-law left their two children to me in the event of their demise...

Advice I received was that although it is very common (normal even) to appoint guardians in a will it is better to do it outside of the will.

Something to do with the guardian is not officially appointed until the will is proved so for the intervening time the child is under the protection of the court. Also there may be difficulties if the will was sucessfully challenged.

Might be worth checking out.

http://www.henmans.co.uk/images/Guardianship.pdf

Drawing up a Will .. cost / advice etc ..