Wills and Trusts

Making a will is so important because it the cornerstone to any estate planning and it makes sure that your assets pass in line with your wishes after your death.

Making a will

The three main pieces of advice from one of our trusted legal partners Irwin Mitchell:

Don’t overcomplicate things! People are put off by making a will because they think its going to be overcomplicated. It can be if necessary for your circumstances but equally you start with something simple and build from there.
Plan. For any telephone call, or meeting that you might have. Think about your assets, think about what you have got, and who you would like to benefit and who is important to you.
Keep it under review. Its not a will forever, its a will for the next few years. You need to review it regularly to make sure it fits in with your requirements at the time.

Appointing executors and unexpected issues

Choosing who you want to be your executors is a crucial decision. Our trusted legal partners at Horwich Cohen Coghlan tell us about the attributes required:

Trustworthiness
Organisational skills
To be impartial
Willing and able
Right age and in good health

Sometimes your estate might be complex so you might want to consider a professional, rather than a family member to take on your estate.

Unexpected issues

If someone has been left out of your will they may wish to contest. For someone to challenge your will they need to apply to the court with evidence, and do so in a certain time limit. There are key elements they need to challenge which are as follows:

It was signed incorrectly, or not at all.
The testator lacked testamentary capacity when they wrote it.
It was forged or fraudulent.

To try and limit challenge to your will you may wish to write a letter of wishes to outline who you want your assets to go to and why. It’s good practice to have this alongside your will so you don’t duplicate.

Will structures

There are lots of different will structures. Our trusted legal partners JMW solicitors introduce some of the types:

Simple out right will. Where your assets are given out right to your main beneficiaries who you wish to inherit your estate.
Mirror wills. These are really popular with married couples. It means that if you have similar wishes you can achieve the same thing, and make sure your assets pass to each other whilst keeping costs down by creating two separate wills.

Lasting power of attorney

If you lose your capacity in your lifetime the document to ensure that your decisions are made correctly is a lasting power of attorney. These are really important legal binding documents that give people you trust the power to act on your behalf.

Trusts and wills

There are a number of different trusts that you can include in your wills. Our trusted legal partners Slater and Gordon introduces some of the available options:

Children’s Trust. Leaving money to children who are under age at the point you pass away
Life interested trust. This when a married, or civil partnership couple leave everything to each other on the first death. On the second death the estate then passes under the will of the first to pass away to their first beneficiaries.
Discretionary trust. This is where the trustees have the complete decision making power over whole estate or whatever passes into the trust.

Trusts for vulnerable adults

The main benefit of including this type of trust in your will is you can leave money to be looked after by the trusts for the vulnerable person, but it doesn’t count as the vulnerable persons money for care fee assessment or means tested benefits purposes.

Write your will for FREE with our trusted partners

If you do not have a solicitor, we have trusted legal partners who can help write your will for FREE paid for by SIA. If you are looking to make your will and want to speak to someone or arrange an in-person appointment with a trained solicitor, we would be happy to let you know who your nearest trusted partners are and providing you with their contact information by completing the form below:

Please note that by requesting this information it does not commit you to any provider, but should you use them SIA will pay for your basic single or mirror will. Should you require anything more complex you can agree this with the selected Partner.

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