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Find out more'A financial adviser said I didn't need to write a will'
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A financial adviser recently gave a talk to my (elderly) group and raised a few eyebrows when he said that it wasn’t always necessary to write a will.
Are there any circumstances when this would, or could, be true?
A Which? Money member
'A will isn't just about inheritance'
Simon Dicey, Which? Money expert, says…
We would always recommend writing a will to make sure that your wishes are carried out properly.
As well as setting out instructions for who will inherit your estate, a will allows you to specify your preferred funeral arrangements, as well as who should raise any children if they’re still minors.
It’s also an opportunity to include donations from your estate to charity – which can reduce the rate of inheritance tax, if your estate is large enough to risk a bill.
In cases where no will has been made, the estate will be distributed according to the intestacy rules, which set out the order in which different relatives are entitled to inherit.
Unmarried partners (or those not in a civil partnership) could end up with nothing.
A will can minimise the amount of administration for your family and next of kin
It’s possible that the adviser had in mind someone with little or no assets but, even then, it’s still a good idea to have a will to help minimise the amount of administration for their family and next of kin.
Another potential reason for not writing a will is for married couples or civil partners where everything is held in joint names, as this would override the will in any case.
If your will is very simple, you can choose to write it yourself, otherwise it’s worth getting help from a qualified solicitor or will-writing service, such as that offered by Which?.
You may want to rewrite your will if your life changes, such as getting married or divorced, or on the birth of new children and grandchildren.
A mistake in your will could lead to the rules of intestacy being applied to your estate.
- Find out more: how to make a will
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