Why Having a Will is Important

A will is important as it shows what you want to happen with your estate when you die. It is the only way of ensuring that your wishes are met.

What is an Estate?

An estate is basically anything that belongs to you. The below are examples of items that are part of an estate:

• Any homes or other real estate that you own
• High value items such as cars
• Your money
• Family heirlooms
• Other expensive or valuable items – e.g. jewellery and art

It really includes anything that you personally own.

You may want your entire estate to go to one person or your might want it to be split. You might want specific items to go to particular people, for example you might own a piece of furniture that you know someone is particularly fond of.

What Happens if You Die Without a Will?

Dying without a will can complicate things. It would mean that it wouldn’t be clear who should get what, so your wishes might not be completely followed. If you don’t have a will it won’t be possible for people to know what should happen with your estate, so family members could lose out. If you want specific items to go to particular people this won’t happen unless your family can agree between themselves. A will is effectively a contract to say who is entitled to different parts of your estate. Without the will there is no contract and things can become very complicated. Although your immediate family will get most of the estate, it won’t work out exactly how you had planned.

Lawyers Fees

When somebody dies there are legal processes that have to be gone through and this includes what happens with your estate. If there is a will this is relatively simple, without one it is not. If this is the case lawyers will have to be employed to sort out your estate. This will be costly, with the money to pay for this being taken from the estate meaning your family will get less that they would otherwise.

Do You Need to Have a Will Written Professionally?

You don’t have to have a will written professionally, you can write it yourself. If you do this you must make sure, though, that you and two witnesses have signed it. However, this is only advisable if the will is relatively straight forward. Wills that are not written professionally can lead to complications further down the line. If it is not done correctly it can be deemed invalid or could be disputed. An invalid will is no more useful than if it hadn’t been written in the first place. In many ways it might be easier to use professional will writing services as this means that you know it has been drafted properly and it is legally binding.

In summary, there are many reasons why having a will is important. They include the following:
• Your estate may not go to the people you want it to.
• Your estate will not be specifically split the way that you would like.
• The whole process will take longer.
• The process will cost more, resulting in your estate being reduced in value.

Andrew Marshall (c)