Wills and Probate

• Wills
• Probate

Wills

Up!

A will is a declaration, in which a person declares how and to whom they wish to transfer their possessions after their death.

Do I have to write a Will?

No. However if you do not have a will, you cannot guarantee that your possessions will be distributed as you wish when you die. The probate section outlines the effects of not drawing up a Will.

Do I need a Lawyer or solicitor to write a Will?

No, anyone over the age of 18 in the UK can write a Will by themselves. But should you have accumulated a large amount of capital over your life it is strongly advisable to write up a Will. Using a solicitor can help avoid legal disputes after your death and avoid your estate being handed over to the probate registry.

What should my Will contain?

• The testator (The individual for whom the will is being written for) must clearly identify himself or herself as the author of the will.
• The testator must declare that he or she revokes all previous wills. The Will therefore must be signed and dated.
• The testator must demonstrate that he or she is of sound mind when drawing up the Will, and does so freely and willingly. This is generally done through a witness statement included in the Will.
• The testator's signature must be placed at the end of the will. All pages in a Will must be numbered and signed to prevent a page being inserted or text add after a signature. Text appearing below a signature on a page or after the last signature will not be recognised legally as part of a Will.
• An heir, an heiress or multiple heirs must be clearly stated in the text.
• The possessions each heir or heiress are to receive are to be listed.

What events can cause my will to be invalid?

Marriage will automatically revoke a will regardless of when the Will was written. A divorce on the other hand, will not revoke a Will! This reason alone is a very good reason to use a solicitor when drawing up your will, or getting married.

Probate

Up!

Probate or administering the estate is managing a deceased person's estate.

What do I do if there is no Will?

If the deceased has no will, relatives can apply to the probate registry for a grant of letters of administration. This is required by law if the estate contains: £5,000 or more, stocks or shares, insurance policies and property.

The law also states that more than one person must act as the administrator of the estate.

The law defines the transfer of a deceased estate in the case of no Will, will be as follows:

If you're married or in a civil partnership and there are no children

The husband, wife or civil partner will receive:

• Personal items, these include but not exclusively: household articles, cars/motorbikes, clothing, etc.
• £400,000 (£200,000) free of tax - or the whole estate if it was less than £400,000 (£200,000) if there are no children.
>£250,000 (£125,000) free of tax - or the whole of the estate if it was less than £250,000 (£125,000) if there are children.
• Half of the rest of the estate in defined by monitor value.

The other half of the rest of the estate will be shared by the follows if there are no children:

• Parents of the deceased.
• Brothers and sisters (who shared the same two parents as the deceased).
• If the deceased has none of the above, the husband, wife or registered civil partner will get the full estate.

If there are children, they will receive the rest of the estate.

If there is no surviving spouse/civil partner

The estate is distributed as follows:

• To surviving children in equal shares.
• If there are no children, to parents (equally, if both alive).
• If there are no surviving parents, to brothers and sisters (who shared the same two parents as the deceased), or to their children if they died while the deceased was still alive.
• If there are no brothers or sisters then to half brothers or sisters (or to their children if they died while the deceased was still alive).
• If none of the above then to grandparents (equally if more than one).
• If there are no grandparents to aunts and uncles (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive).
• If none of the above, then to half uncles or aunts (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive).
• To the Crown if there are none of the above

What is a civil partnership?

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only in death, dissolution or annulment. Part 2 of the Act relates to England and Wales, Part 3 to Scotland and Part 4 to Northern Ireland.