Will information
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What is a will?
A will is a legal document that sets out your wishes when you die. A will is written then signed and witnessed by someone to confirm that the contents is definitely your wishes.
Your will sets out who gets what after your death. That could be money or items, or it could be property and other assets.
Most importantly, as parents your will nominates someone to look after your children if you were to die. This is hugely important as without a will in place, the state will decide who will be best and they may well not be who you would choose, or it could even mean state care until it is decided.
Why do you need a will?
If you do not have a will in place, then your estate will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy. This is a predetermined sequence from your spouse, children and the rest of your family. This means that the people that you would want to leave things to may not receive it.
Your children would be looked after by whoever the state decide is best and you have no say in anything that happens to them.
So having a will means that everyone knows who should get any inheritance and what should happen to any children you have.
As part of this process, you will need to decide who you want to help administer your will and look after your children and their inheritance. These are important jobs so think carefully about who to choose! Find out more about the different roles you need below.
How do you write a will?
This bit is nice and easy! We have access to an online portal from the experts at “MyLastWill” which we will guide you through and answer all the questions with you. We will fill in all the important information about you, the people that are important to you and the people that you want to take care of things if you were to die. We will even then speak to the people you have nominated to take care of things for you to make sure they understand what is involved and to answer any questions they have and of course, they may want a free will too!
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How much does it cost to make a will?
Here’s the best bit! A basic will or matching pair of “mirror” wills is absolutely free. That’s right, no cost whatsoever. There is no catch, no conditions, no terms. We will set you up with a basic will completely free.
Why would we do that I hear you ask? Well, there are 2 reasons. Number one is that nowhere near enough people, particularly parents have a will in place and this upsets us! So, we want to help as many people as possible protect their families and make it clear what their wishes are.
The second reason is that usually, it becomes apparent that most people don’t have enough or even any life cover or any form of protection in place. This is also not a good position to be in! There is of course no obligation to do anything about that at all, but should you wish to (and most people do) then we will earn a small commission from the provider. Don’t worry though, you will still pay the same amount as if you had gone directly to them. Using an adviser for this though means you know you are getting a policy that does exactly what you need it to.
What is an executor?
This is a very important job and one with a big responsibility. The executor is the person who is in charge of making sure your wishes are followed. They will also need to make sure any liabilities are settled, all the relevant tax is paid and the right gifts go to the right people. They will also have to fill in the forms and generally make sure everything happens as it should.
You need to choose wisely with the executor as there is a lot to do. You can select more than one person though, perhaps a couple of main executors and then a backup or two.
What is a trustee?
If you are leaving anything to a child, they cannot legally inherit until they are old enough so if they will get your house or some money then they will need someone to look after it for them. This is where a trustee comes in. A trustee is responsible for the minor’s inheritance until they can take over themselves. This could mean investing money or looking after property or other assets. The trustee needs to be someone you trust to do the right thing with your loved one’s money! Again, you can choose more than one person plus a backup or two.
What is a guardian?
This is the big one. A guardian is the person or people responsible for caring for your children if you die. Obviously, this is an important decision, one that will affect your child’s future but also place a huge responsibility on the shoulders of whoever you choose.
The guardian will be responsible for caring for your child, feeding them, clothing them, schooling them, just the same as you are and so ideally, we need to make sure we leave some extra funds to help with this, otherwise your guardian will be funding it all themselves. Fortunately, this will be part of our conversation and there are many options to make this happen that will not break the bank.
The next steps
Use the button on this page to book a free initial set-up call where we will go through the basic details for you and discuss who you need to consider in your will. We will also talk about your assets and liabilities and put any necessary plans in place to make sure that your assets are more than your liabilities.
Wills are referred to a third party. Neither Vantage Mortgages Ltd or PRIMIS are responsible for the service received. These services are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and may have limited consumer protection.
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