Wills & Probate

The thought of writing a will can be daunting (and boring…)
Many people put off writing a will as they think they are too young (and cool..)

The obvious risks of no will If anything happens to you and you have not made a will :-
1) the people you want to benefit from your assets may not receive anything
2) worse still those you do not want to benefit may do so.

What happens if you don’t have a will? This depends on your circumstances:

Living together ( having fun ) known as Cohabiting
Many people believe if you are not married to your partner they will still inherit your estate. This may be the case if you own your assets, such as your house, as joint tenants ( this means the surviving owner takes the asset).However if the asset is owned as tenants in common or not in joint names the asset will not pass to your partner. Many people believe in the concept of ‘common law marriage’ however this does not exist and the surviving partner may end up with nothing. In this situation the assets will go to the deceaseds natural family. The only way the partner can gain access to the estate will be through the complicated, costly and time consuming court procedure.

Married with children
If you are married and have children, you may think that your spouse will inherit all of your assets, this is not necessary the case. Where items are in joint names as joint tenants this means the assets would automatically pass to the other person. However where assets are in your sole name this would mean that only the first £125,000.00 would go to your spouse and anything above this would be divided between the spouse and the children. This may cause problems as assets may need to be sold to accommodate this divide.

Married without children
If you are married but have no children then your spouse will only get the first £200,000.00. Anything above this will get divided between the surviving spouse and other members of your family. Again this may cause problems, as the house may need to be sold to provide for this divide.

Tax implications
There may also be tax implications if you do not make a will. This is because by clever Will drafting you can distribute your wealth so as to benefit from the different types of tax relief available. You can see from the above that where there is no Will the rules are complicated and can be ‘unfair’. This is why at the Legal Discount Company we can put you in touch with an expert team of solicitors who can create a will to provide for your specific needs.

What happens to my wealth after I move on (known as Probate )
When a person passes away their estate needs to be settled in accordance with the Will or the rules of intestacy this process is called Probate. This process involves paying off any debts in relation to the deceased and then distributing the property. The person who deals with this will be the person named in the will as the Executor. If there is no will then there are certain rules which indicate who is to take the roles as the Administrator. The Probate office distributes a grant of probate this document gives the Executor or the Administrator the power to access the deceased’s estate and therefore distribute it. This process can seem daunting for your loved ones especially at such an emotional time.

The Legal Discount Company are here to help you. If you have any question just contact us.
We hope the information above is of help and we look forward to working with you.