In celebration of Family Business Week this latest in our series of articles, looks at the reasons why writing your Will while you are in good health makes a lot of sense for you and your family, especially when you use the services of a solicitor to ensure it is done the right way.
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Recognising the nearly 30% of UK economic output and significant proportion of private sector employment that family businesses are responsible for, we celebrate their success stories and look forward to advising the generations to come.
Commit to writing your Will in Family Business Week
If you are thinking about writing a Will to ensure your wishes are followed after your death, you may have considered writing your own, to save money or time. There are many online templates and drafting tools available, with information about the law and the process you should follow.
However, whilst it may seem simple, there are numerous pitfalls that could trap the unwary, which makes using a solicitor to write your Will the most beneficial choice for you and your family, especially if you’re in business together.
Knowing which questions to ask
Although it is extremely important to write a Will and re-visit it periodically or following significant events affecting you and your family, it is only one part of an effective estate planning process. There are many other practical and legal matters that an experienced solicitor will help you address.
A solicitor will identify all of the property and interests that form your estate, ensuring nothing is forgotten. Your chosen solicitor will work closely with you to draft a comprehensive Will that accurately reflects your estate and your wishes.
Drafting the Will correctly
Given the nature of the assets most people own these days and particularly those involved with family businesses, drafting a Will can be a complicated process, even for experienced professionals.
It requires a deep understanding of your unique circumstances and careful wording in the Will, to ensure that your wishes are reflected accurately. Many disputes associated with Wills typically arise from unclear wording, but using a solicitor will ensure your directions are clear, with no room for misinterpretation.
Signing the Will correctly
A Will is a formal legal document and as such, must be completed properly, then signed and witnessed correctly or it may not be considered valid. Whilst you may have conducted your own research online and believe you understand the legal requirements, are you willing to risk your Will being disputed with all the problems that can cause for your family and business?
Without the advice of an experienced Private Client solicitor, are you confident you will be able to meet the legal requirements for a valid Will and frame your wishes in such a way that they will be carried out?
Many homemade Wills fail to meet the necessary legal standard to be considered valid, rendering them useless, or at the very least requiring additional work after death, which is not a situation any family member needs to be put in while grieving your loss.
Templates and online writing services may help you draft a Will which records your wishes in a way that meets the legal requirements, but a simple error in the signing or witnessing process can invalidate all your hard work.
This common scenario will not only cost your family more money to correct, but create a lot of upset and difficulty that could have bene avoided by using the services of an experienced solicitor.
Drafting a Will for modern family structures and complex finances
If your family structure does not follow the traditional view of marriage – married once with 2.4 children – or you have complicated finances that involve a family business for example, it makes sense to seek the advice of an experienced solicitor to draft your Will.
For example, accounting for current stepchildren or those from a previous marriage can be complicated. Creating a Will without the help of a solicitor, risks unintentionally leaving those closest to you without the inheritance you wanted them to have. It could tear a family apart or disrupt a family business and prompt time-consuming and expensive claims against your estate.
Other considerations
Writing a Will is about more than just detailing how you want your estate to be distributed following your death and mistakes can be expensive. By enlisting the specialist skills and knowledge of an experienced Private Client solicitor, you can also plan to protect your assets from care fees, divorce, remarriage or bankruptcy, ensuring your loved ones inherit as you wish.
You can receive advice that helps you mitigate your Inheritance Tax liability, or helps you make a Power of Attorney when drafting your Will, so that decisions can be made in your best interests, when you may have lost the physical or mental capacity to make such decisions.
If you have any questions about drafting your Will and would like more details of how Buckles can help you and your address the most important, personal matters, please get in touch and one of our experienced team will explain how we can make a difference.
Let’s speak now, before the end of Family Business Week and get your Will sorted.
