Will Writing Solicitors

Specialist Will Writers

Are you looking for help with making your Will, or updating it? We can help. Our specialist will writing solicitors prepare Wills and Trusts, as well as dealing with with probate cases for clients throughout Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset and further afield from our 4 offices.

Bonallack & Bishop   |  Salisbury    |   Fordingbridge   |   Andover    |   Amesbury

Do you have a Will?

Making your Will is the easiest thing to put off. It is estimated that over 70% of the population don’t have a current accurate Will. And according to research released in 2020, the average age of people making wills has increased to 58. This leaves far too many younger people without the protection of a will. A will is not just for the old and middle-aged

What’s more, recent research released in March 2023 by wealth management company, Quilter, found that 57% of the UK population still have no will. And that report also found that 51% of people who actually have a will haven’t updated it in the last 5 years – and a full 14% have never updated their will at any stage!

Don’t be one of them. If you are, you risk dying intestate (i.e. without saying who should inherit your property) or with a will that no longer represent your circumstances – which could leave a very uncertain future for your family, friends and business partners.

Our specialist Wills solicitors strongly advise that you make a Will, review it regularly and consider taking out a Lasting Power of Attorney. It costs less than you think – we offer value for money fixed fees for simple Wills.
Click here to read more about making a Lasting Power of Attorney and the Difference Between a Lasting and Enduring Power of Attorney.

Free Review of your Will

If you’re not sure of whether or not you need to update your Will, then take advantage of Bonallack & Bishop’s free will writing review offer

So just call us on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or one of our four local office numbers to book in your FREE wills review appointment with 1 of our solicitors – with no obligation or strings attached.

Why do I need a Will?

If you do not make a Will:

• Your family could be involved in unnecessary costs and delay
• You will have no control over what happens to your property
• Disagreements may arise between how your property is split between your family
• You may not have made enough financial provision for your spouse
• Your family home may have to be sold to distribute the assets unless you make the position clear to the contrary
• There might be more tax to pay
• You could leave your business partners unprotected resulting in a forced business sale
  Click here to read more about the important of wills when you own a business
• If you are living together without having married then your partner will have no automatic right to any part of your estate

In contrast, if you make a Will you keep more control over what happens to your estate after you die and you can ensure that:

• Those you care for are provided for
• You minimise tax payable on your death.  Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies predict the changes to inheritance tax made in the October 2024 budget will make 55% more estates liable to pay inheritance tax by 2030
  Click here to read more about how our inheritance tax planning solicitors can help you reduce your tax burden
• You make proper provision for your co-habitee if you are unmarried
• You choose someone to look after the day to day care of your young children
• You decide who deals with your estate (known as the executor)
• You remember family and friends by leaving them particular gifts
• You provide a smooth handover of your business
• You avoid disputes over your property from first and second families

Writing Your Will – What To Include

Our will writing solicitors regularly come across examples where clients haven’t added up the full value of their potential financial worth. Don’t forget your estate may be more valuable than you think and includes:

• Your home
• Your savings
• Your personal possessions
• Any insurance or pension policies
• Your business
• Second homes or investment property

Writing your will – don’t forget your children.

Around 70% of UK parents have no legal guardian for their children identified in a will, according to research commissioned by Solicitors for the Elderly in early 2023.

Many parents don’t have a will in place or haven’t appointed a legal guardian for their children. Godparents don’t count as legal guardians, so to avoid the risk of the courts deciding what happens to your children, you really should make a will and update it every five years.

The research also revealed

• Just 56% of those responded admitted to updating their will over the last five years- and that means almost half of UK wills are out of date.
• And to make matters worse, around half of those responding confirmed they had gone through a life changing event (having a child, getting married or getting divorced) since they last updated their will. And even the UK government advises people to make a new will when their life is subject to these kind of changes
• And remarkably, around 20% said they were aware of someone who were affected by a problem with a will

Our will writing solicitors’ recommendation, supported by Solicitors for the Elderly, is that people should review their Will, ideally once every 5 years or after life-changing events like getting married or having children.

Your will – trusts, wealth and estate planning and inheritance tax

Depending on your personal and financial circumstances, it may simply be that you need a will. However, with inheritance tax affecting more and more people, it’s no longer a tax on the rich.

In fact figures released by HMRC figures in June 2024 confirm the amount of inheritance tax Britons are paying continues to rise. Receipts from IHT in in the first two months of the 2024/25 tax year were the highest total ever – £1.4 billion . What’s more, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that we will be paying as much as £8.4 billion inheritance tax by 2027/28. And that estimate was made before the changes in the October 2024 budget which are expected to add an additional £2 billion to the amount of inheritance tax collected by the government every year.

Our private client team includes a highly experienced solicitor who specialises in trust and inheritance tax planning – and has extensive experience with clients with assets overseas.
Click here to read more about how our Estate Planning Lawyers can help you

If your finances are a little more complex, you might want to take advantage of our FREE Inheritance tax saving and estate planning consultation. Simply call our Lawyers on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or one of our local office numbers [see below] for a no strings attached conversation.

Can certain individuals be excluded from my Will?

Although only named beneficiaries can benefit from the terms of your Will it is possible to include a simple clause excluding certain individuals, depending on their ‘category’.

However, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 enables certain categories (particularly spouses and minor children) to apply to the court, challenging your will by making an inheritance claim for reasonable financial provision if they have been excluded or not adequately provided for in your Will.

As a result, if you’re thinking of leaving someone close to you out of your will –  particularly your spouse or registered civil partner, your cohabitee, any children under the age of 18 and even step-children – then  professional legal advice from experienced Wills solicitors  is particularly important.
Click here to read more about making or defending an Inheritance Claim

Do I really need to update my Will?

Modern life is complicated, and not getting any simpler. Over the years you will find your personal circumstances change several times. As your life progresses so should your Will. A Will that might be suitable for a single person in their 20s without any assets or children, will probably be completely inappropriate for someone say in their 50s who owns their own house, has their own business, was married and divorced and has now remarried and started a second family.

It is those kind of changes in your personal circumstances that mean you need to regularly review your will. In fact, we advise that you should carry out a review every two or three years to ensure to ensure it reflects your wishes and accurately reflects any changes in circumstances, e.g. marriage or divorce, children and grandchildren, investing in new assets, starting a business, etc. These kind of changes can significantly affect your Estate, your responsibilities and tax liabilities upon death and even the validity of the Will itself.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s a direct quote taken from the government’s own gov.uk website confirming who needs a will:

“You should review your Will every 5 years and after any major change in your life, eg:

• • getting separated or divorced
  • getting married (this cancels any will you made before)
  • having a child
  • moving house
  • if the executor named in the Will dies”

Here at Bonallack & Bishop we offer a FREE Will Writing Review service – so why not contact us now to book your appointment.

How does my marital status affect my Will?

Wills are revoked by both marriage and entering into a civil partnership (unless the will is made in “contemplation of marriage/civil partnership”). So if you have got married or entered into a civil partnership since your last will, then unless that phrase appears in your will, you have no current valid will.

Living together but no will– are you at risk?

With increasing number of Britons now cohabiting, many still don’t realise that they don’t have the same legal protection as married couples. That’s why it’s even more important for people who are living together to make sure they have a valid or up-to-date will that reflects their individual circumstances.

Click here to read more about cohabitation and your legal rights

How can I change my Will?

It is not possible to simply amend an existing Will once it has been both signed and witnessed.

To change your Will you have two choices;

1. You can add what is called a “Codicil” – that’s a legal document which alters any existing Will. A Codicil needs to meet the same legal requirements as a Will (e.g. as to signature and witnessing). A Codicil is appropriate for any small changes to your wishes.In theory, you can add as many Codicils as you like to an existing Will, although once you have added a few Codicils, it might start to look a little complicated and it might be easier to simply start from scratch and prepare a new Will entirely. Codicils need to be signed and witnessed in the same way as your main will document. And like a will, it’s very risky to draft your own codicil – much safer to rely on our specialist will writing solicitors

If your circumstances change dramatically e.g. you get married, you should write a new Will.

2. You can make a completely new Will – which must make it clear that it revokes or cancels any previous version.

It’s also a very good idea to physically destroy any old Will when you’ve made a new one. You should burn your Will [probably the safest way of destroying a Will] or tear it up if you want to revoke it completely. If there are quite a few changes to make, then making an entirely new Will is the right way to go.

Revoking a will

A testator can choose to revoke their will at a future date if they wish to amend the provisions contained within it. Again, it must be their express intention to do so and  the right procedure must be followed to make sure the subsequent will is also valid and that the old one is rendered obsolete.

A will is also generally revoked when a person marries or enters a civil partnership, so this is another occasion when a new will would have to be made,

Making my Will – what should I do next?

Before you see a will writing solicitor, list your assets and consider who you would like to provide for and in what way. In particular you should think about:

• The nature and value of your property

• If you have any particular wish for your funeral arrangements

• If you want to donate any of your organs or allow your body to be used for medical purposes

• Who you would like to administer your estate – your executor to ‘wind up your affairs’. This could be your partner, a beneficiary or your solicitor, who has the knowledge and experience to make sure your wishes are fulfilled.

• Who you would wish to look after your children if you cannot

• Who you would like to benefit – including your partner, children, any previous family and your extended family and friends.

•You might want to think about whether you would like to leave money ‘in trust’ for children or grandchildren until they are grown up and at what age you think they should inherit.

•Consider whether you would like to leave some money to charity (this can but can evidently cut your tax liability)
NB To give you an idea of how much money is left under wills every year, according to research by market analysts, Legacy Foresight, the total amount of legacy income is expected to reach around £4bn in 2023 and 2024 growing to £4.4bn by 2027.

•What do you want to happen to your business interests?

•Tax implications – especially Inheritance Tax

Will writing – Naming an executor

Most executors are people who are specifically named when the will is drawn up. If you’re drafting a will, it’s a very good idea to check in advance that your intended executors are happy to act for you. Although you have no legal obligation to do this, it can save a lot of time and trouble for your loved ones and beneficiaries in the long run.

People can also apply to become executor of a UK will, if necessary, by seeking a grant of administration from the Probate Registry.

But do bear in mind that the role of being an executor can be quite tough, not to mention time-consuming. and being an executor means significant responsibility – including collecting and valuing all assets as well as preparing estate accounts and calculating and paying tax due. And an executor can be personally responsible if they make a mistake. So, when choosing the right executor, please bear in mind the need to choose someone who would be comfortable with this level of responsibility.  And depending on your age, sometimes it’s worth selecting someone younger than you for the role.

Although you might go for just one single executor, you can choose up to a maximum of 4. However it often more practical to choose just 1 or 2 executors – to keep the process of administering your estate as simple as you can. It’s also possible to name a substitute executor in your will – someone who can take on the role if your 1st choice cannot act or simply does not want to.

And, when writing your will, if you don’t have anyone suitable to act as executor of your estate, you can choose what is known as a “professional executor” – see below.
Click here to read more about the role of the executor

Making your Will – Why consider Appointing Us as Your Executors?

The wills and probate solicitors in the private client team here at Bonallack & Bishop are highly experienced in acting as professional executors. And there are some very good reasons why you might want to trust us with administering your estate – including the following:

• Price – here at B&B we never claim to be the cheapest – but we do provide a cost-effective and value for money estate administration service.
But watch out for Banks –  their probate charges are often extremely expensive, and don’t forget to read the small print. If you compare our prices with those charged by banks for the same service, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised

• We take on responsibility for administering the whole of your estate – we often find that individual executors often struggle with the complexity of probate – especially at a time when they are coming to terms with the loss of a loved one

• However, the family can be as involved as they wish and we offer this as an option too. If the beneficiaries want to handle probate themselves, we are happy to respect their wishes and handover the role of executor to them – a process technically known as “renouncing probate”.
Alternatively, although we appointed executors, we can work with beneficiaries and family members to share their response with your probate, keeping legal costs down

• Avoiding the risk of DIY probate There are some tricky aspects of probate – and DIY probate can prove expensive if it goes wrong

• We are impartial and independent, which can reduce family conflict

• We are trusted by our clients, and by those who work with us (e.g. Age UK with whom we have run three “Free Wills for the over 75s” campaigns)

• Clients come to us knowing they will be treated with kindness and understanding

• We speak in plain English helping you to understand what is going on at every stage

Can my executor are also be a beneficiary?

Yes, that’s not a problem – and it’s a common situation.

Will writing – what about my digital assets?

This issue has recently been raised by Law Society. In a survey commissioned by them, it appears that 93% of those making a will don’t include anything about their digital assets.

And as a result, the Law Society suggest that anyone making a will should include ‘digital assets’ such as emails, passwords and photos in their wills. And that can cover crucial information which may be stored on online banking accounts, as well as their own social media accounts and family photos.

Witnessing your will

To be valid, your will will need to not only be signed by you – but that signature must be in the presence of two witnesses. Those witnesses must be over 18 and it is important that the witnesses are not the appointed executors or people who will be benefiting from the will. In fact if you witness a will and you are named as one of the beneficiaries in the will, you will lose your right to any gift under the will when the person dies.

Keeping your Will safe

When you have made a Will, it’s essential that is kept safely. If not, and you end up with a lost or destroyed Will, things can get complicated.

If there is no Will at all then the intestacy rules apply [i.e. it is if you died without a Will],  in which case your property is distributed in line with very rigid rules, and it’s very likely that your property won’t end up where you wished.

Worse still, destroyed or lost Wills open up the possibility of an inheritance claim, or the possibility of your loved ones disputing a Will. Such contested inheritance claims often achieve little apart from spending much of your estate on legal costs, not to mention the risk of permanent and irreparable family splits.

The answer is simple – we can store your Will for free [see below]- that’s particularly sensible if you take up the option of Bonallack & Bishop acting as your executors.

Other safe alternatives include a fireproof safe at home or leaving it with your bank – though banks, unlike solicitors, usually make an substantial annual charge for the privilege of storage.

Regardless of where you decide to store your Will, you must ensure that your Executors knows its whereabouts so that it can be located after your death.

Our will writing solicitors’ offer – Free Wills Storage

Do you pay your bank for storage? If so you’re in good company because many banks routinely charge substantial sums annually for looking after your documents.

Bonallack and Bishop can store your Will and House Deeds free of charge in our secure fire proof storage, with no strings attached – even if the Will was not prepared by Bonallack & Bishop for you in the first place.

So why keep your documents in the bank – transfer them to us today – and stop your hard-earned wealth simply adding to your bank’s profits.

NB don’t keep your will in a bank safety deposit box. Quite apart from the unnecessary financial charges, there is a major problem. When you die, the deposit box cannot be opened until grant of probate – and probate can’t be granted without the will. Spot the potential problem!!!

Will you be one of the increasing number of people to leave a gift in your will to charity?

According to Remember A Charity’s 2022 consumer benchmarking study more than 2,000 charity donors, 19% of people included a charitable gift when making their Will, and an additional  10% said that they were going to do so. And the good news is that is an increase of around one third since 2013.

And what’s more, there are tax planning advantages in including gifts charity in your will. So that’s another reason to make sure you make a new will or update your existing will and discuss tax planning issues with one of our experienced will writing solicitors.

Beware of DIY Wills and unqualified Will-writers

Do not make a homemade or DIY will and watch out  for ‘Wills writers’ with qualifications. Some “Wills writers” are perfectly reputable, but far too many are not and many operate without any insurance cover. What is more, using them is more likely to result in incorrect or invalid Wills and you could end up with potential beneficiaries becoming embroiled in an inheritance claim – a growing trend which not only proves expensive, it is also a long and stressful process which can also divide families permanently.

Many people also choose to write their own Wills, without the help of a solicitor. People either download a DIY will template online or buy a ‘wills pack’ from a stationery shop.  It’s no coincidence that the number of Wills contested in the High Court has risen rapidly – and that increase has come about at the same time that DIY Wills have been on the increase.

Some of the most common problems with DIY Wills include the following:

•    Inheritance tax issues — are you totally confident to make provisions for inheritance tax and can you ensure the Will is properly drafted to minimise inheritance tax? That’s why it’s important to include professional advice from experienced Will writing solicitors on estate planning when making a new will

•    Financial dependents — do you have people who are financially dependent on you – if you do and you don’t provide proper provision for them in your Will that could cause major problems in the future when it comes to probate.

•    Unclear wording — Wills must be written in a way in which the wording cannot possibly be misunderstood or misconstrued. If you choose to write your own DIY Will, unless you’re extremely careful you could well increase the chances that someone could successfully dispute it in the future.

•    Businesses and self employment — if you run a business, Wills and probate issues are further complicated, especially if you’re leaving the business to someone.

•    Property — probate can become particularly complicated if you own property. Don’t even think of doing a DIY Will if you have overseas property – unless you’re 100% sure you know what you’re doing

•    Foreign investments or bank accounts — Again, these form a very complicated area of probate law, so if you have any foreign bank accounts or investments, steer clear of a DIY Will.

If you get it badly wrong when writing a DIY Will, it is perfectly possible that the court decides your Will is invalid – and that means you’ve died intestate. In that case, it’ll be the state which decides where your money goes. If that happens, unmarried partners will receive nothing, your children might not get what you had planned, your inheritance tax outlay could well be much higher than it could have been – and if you have no relatives living your entire estate goes to the government.

DIY will writing, then, is an incredibly risky business. Recent research from the Co-operative Legal Services suggest that badly drafted DIY wills cause serious probate problems for 38,000 UK families every  year. And more and more of those contested probate cases are going to court. 2019 saw the number of inheritance disputes dealt with by the High Court increase by 62% compared with 2019. That’s massive stress and big legal bills for a lot of British families. Don’t become one of them.

To give you an idea of how risky the unregulated sector can be, a few years back, staff from a Will writing business, Minster Legal Services, [which had ceased trading on the death of its sole director the previous month], simply dumped over 1000 of their files on the pavement outside a Will writing company in Doncaster – files which contained highly confidential information, including original Wills!

And it’s widely thought that the coronavirus pandemic fuelled a rise in DIY will making. A 2021 report from nationwide will writers, Farewill, noted a 267% increase in the number of wills written at home between 2019 and 2020 and at the peak of the pandemic, a 1200% increase in wills made by the under 35s. It’s expected that there will be a noticeable increase in the number of contested wills and probate cases as a direct result.

And July 2023 saw an announcement by the CMA, the competition regulator, of an investigation into unregulated will writers and the need to protect their clients. The CMA identified 3 particular areas of concern:

• concerns about the pressurised selling of Wills and un reasonable pressure being put on vulnerable clients to sign up
• unregulated will writers misleading clients by initially advertising an extremely low initial fee, but hiding additional costs which often tilted in a significantly higher final bill
• the use of potentially unfair contract terms including the appointment of the will writer as executor (often for a fee)

Will writing – can a couple make their Will together?

Yes, that is certainly possible. Whilst single wills are by far the most common, it is possible for a couple to make a will together. Our solicitors can discuss with you which of these available options suit you best.
Click here to read more about the differences between Joint, Mirror and Mutual Wills

Destroying Wills

If you want to produce a new Will or revoke an earlier version, make sure that you do destroy the previous Will – and all copies of it. The best way of destroying Wills is normally to burn them – to make sure that there is no remaining legible text. Don’t forget however if you do destroy your Will, and fail to make a new one before you die, it will be as if you had never made a Will in the first place.

What happens if someone else destroyed the Will?

If someone else destroys your Will without permission, that Will actually remains valid. The problem here, however, is establishing what was actually in the Will. It’s often easier to do so if you can find copies of the destroyed Will – check with the solicitor who originally drafted the Will as they may have kept copies.  Without an actual copy of the Will, however, things get trickier. To establish the Will as valid, you will need to find some proof of the contents of the Will – perhaps a letter written by the person making the Will about its contents.

What is a will trust?

Trusts are legal entities which enable a person to benefit from an asset without actually being the legal owner.

There are a number of different types of trusts.

A will trust (often referred to as a testamentary trust) can be created by your will as a powerful tool in wealth protection and tax planning. However, they are complex vehicles and to make sure that your desired results are achieved it is imperative you receive expert legal advice. Our private client team regularly create and manage trusts for clients, and includes a solicitor with particular trusting expertise – she used to educate solicitors nationwide on trusts.

Click here to read more about different types of trust and how our Trust Solicitors could help you

What is a Living Will?

An ‘advance directive’ document containing instructions to medical personnel allowing them to prevent the prolonging of your life in the event of you becoming terminally ill, permanently unconscious or lose your mental capacity.
Click here to read more about a living will.

Click here to find out more about mental capacity for wills.

Is it worth appointing an Undertaker?

Doing so can often be very sensible – there are a number of advantages in appointing a named funeral director.

• Appointing a director is often the first task of those you leave behind – what is a very upsetting time, leaving them with one less decision to have to make is often a sensible move
• It reduces the number of disagreements between those who are left behind if you have made it clear what your wishes are. And yes, as solicitors we have actually been involved in legal action between surviving family members over arrangements for a funeral. Very sad.
• You can ensure your choices are made clear – even for the funeral service itself
• Naming an Undertaker, particularly one with whom you have made a funeral plan, takes all the guess work out of the arrangements for your family and friends

Our solicitors can recommend some independent local undertakers who offer free interviews.

If you like, we can write to your executors to tell them of your decision to appoint them, and offer them a guide to help them with their duties.

The Validity of a Will Doesn’t Depend On Speaking The Language

Even if a person does not speak the English language, they can still create a will and its validity will not be affected.

A recent real example shows why this is the case:

A Gujarati woman living in the UK spoke Gujarati but did not speak English. When she wanted her will to be written, a family friend translated her intentions to a will writer who spoke English but not Gujarati. In the will she outlined that her £200,000 estate be split amongst her four sons.

The Gujarati woman’s daughters launched a contested probate claim arguing that because her will was prepared using a translator, and said that she did not understand the implications of this decision, and meant to split her estate between all seven of her children.

However, the Judge ruled in favour of the existing will, and said that the evidence showed that she knew and approved of the contents of her will.

So, therefore as long as a person understands and approves of the provisions made in their will, they can create a valid will under English law, even if they do not speak any English.

Probate Solicitors

Probate involves dealing with the estate of someone who has died – collecting in monies that are owed, settling taxes or debts and distributing the estate among the beneficiaries.
Click for more about how our probate solicitors can help you.