Frequently Asked Questions 

Please click on a question below to see the answer and if your question isn't listed here, please complete the contact form on this page. 
The law decides what happens to your Estate should you die without a valid Will in place. This is known as dying "intestate". If you die without a valid Will in place, you have no control over who shall inherit your belongings, your savings, your property. You could be unwittingly passing a share or the whole of your Estate to someone that you would not wish to inherit or that you hardly know or don’t know. Your loved ones may even be bypassed altogether. Not only that your family and loved ones may also find that it is very costly and expensive to deal with the sorting of your Estate. Having a Will in place is the best way to guarantee that you wishes are known when you pass away. 
There is no upper age limit for making a Will. 
 
To put a Will in place, In England, Wales you must be over the age of 18 years. Scotland has different laws and there you must be over the age of 16 years. 
 
If you are in the Armed Forces and on or about to start active duty, you are able to make a Special Will at the age of 17 years. 
You have to be over the minimum age. To put a Will in place you have to have ‘testamentary capacity’, this means you are of sound mind, and you understand what you are doing, that you understand that whatever you put in your Will has an effect on people that may be dependent upon you, and also you have an understanding of what your Estate looks like (your assets), and what you are leaving behind. 
Not at all, if you have a disability or visual impairment, I can help you make a Will that is effective to your personal circumstances and help with arrangements for signing & witnessing to take into account your specific circumstances. Please call me with any questions that you have. 
You should have a Will prepared under the local law in the country where you own land, or property or any other asset. Due to the complexities of foreign probate law, it will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money if you do not have a Will in that country, and likely the foreign country would not recognise an English Will. 
Yes you can, this is the purpose of me preparing a Draft Will for you. Even after you have okayed your Draft if you suddenly remember something you wish to add this is absolutely fine. 
 
Should you wish to alter you final Will at a later date, again this can be done, I just charge a small admin fee to cover a little time, stationary and expenses. 
Yes you can name your children, I like to do this anyway, as it makes your Will more personal. If there is any possibility that you may have more children in the future, I shall write your Will to take into account any possible future children, and then you can always update your Will in the future to include the names of any new additions. 
I strongly advise against any family member acting as a witness. I provide clear instructions on who can act as witnesses, and if I am visiting you at home, I can provide this service for you. 
Mirror Wills are a single Will each, that will often mirror the other of you, as everyone’s circumstances are different, even though you are both a couple, your circumstances may warrant you to have very different circumstances catered for. I take both of your circumstances into consideration, and write your individual Wills accordingly. 
This is a question that I get asked often. We live in an age where there are often children from previous relationships. Please call me and I can go through the options with you. 
This is another question that crops up often, call me and I can go through the options with you. 
I will work with you to put things in place, to help you and your family make sure that your child is taken care of as you wish. 
Not at all. Ideally you should review/update your Will around every 5 years to make sure that it is still in accordance with your wishes and your circumstances, or if there are any major events in your life such as any of the following: 
 
If you have married, or entered into a civil partnership, moved in with your partner, divorced, separated, had a civil partnership dissolved, been widowed or are a surviving civil partner. 
If you have had a child, become a grandparent, adopted a child, become a step-parent. 
If an Executor or one of your beneficiaries or someone named in your Will dies. 
Significant Change in your Assets: sometimes it is necessary to review your Will if your assets change or increase significantly. 
If your wishes have changed since writing you initial Will. 
So long as you have the mental Capacity to make deciscions and that you are able to understand the decisions that you are making, you can make a lasting Power of Attorney at any time. 
Lasting Power of Attorney shold be something that you consider at the same time as you are making your Will, as these I belive to be just as importaint if not more importaint.  
Yes there are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney, they both look after different things.  
Property & Finance lookas after any property that you own, and anything of a financial nature , this may be paying bills, looking after your bank or building scociety accounts, your pensions, claiming benefits if you need finacial help, and any thing else of a financial nature. 
Health & Welfare looks after everything to do with your Health and the way you are looked after. 
You need both documents to look after the different aspects of your finances and your health and care. 
This needs careful consideration, as the person(s) that you choose need to be people that you trust to make decisions on your behalf, and therefore should have your best interests at heart. 
Many people do choose family and close friends, if you choose more than one person, they must get on together, otherwise it can make things difficult in the future. 
Some people may choose a proffesional person such as a Solicitor, there will usually be additional costs involved, just make sure that you agree fees and charges before undertaking. 
Attorneys must be over the age of 18 years, and also they must have mental capacty to act. 
If someone for example has an condition, a disorder or has had an injury that effects how their brain and mind works, making it diffcult for them to understand or make decisions, this may be considered that the individual lacks mental capacity. 
There are usually a group of people involed in assesing an individuals mental capacity, such as doctors, social workers and sometimes even solicitors. 
 
The person being assessed may have the capacty to make some decisions for themselves, but may find it difficult to make other decisions.  
Someone has then to apply to the courts for a Deputyship, for someone to look after the indviduals affairs, this can be a very long and drawn out process, and can be very costly.  
The individual does not have any or very little say in whom will be appointed to look after their affairs. 
If you have any questions feel free to let us know using this contact form. 
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