Wills Direct

Making a will is the only way to make sure your money and possessions go to the people and causes you care about. It's easy to put off making a will. But if you die without one your assets may be distributed according to the law rather than your wishes. This could mean that your partner receives less, or that the money goes to family members who may not need it.

We all know how important it is to have a will, yet millions of us put it off and, in doing so, run the risk of the state determining how our assets should be distributed on our death. It is the Intestacy Rules (set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and amended by the Inheritance and Trustees Powers Act 2014 (ITPA 2014) that determine who gets what if you die without making a will.

If your children are still under the age of 18, it is important that you consider who might take care of them. It is usual to consider a family member or even a close friend. A guardian will have to assume responsibility for decisions affecting your children's day-to-day care.

It might make sense to include a trust for your children until they attain the age of 18, 21 or 25 with powers for your trustees to be able to help them financially by advancing money from the trust fund to help in matters of their health, welfare and education.You may wish to leave a piece of jewellery or all of your jewellery to a friend or relative and you may also want to consider a gift to a favourite charity as well.

It involves the same, as the basic single Will but create two Wills, one each for you and your spouse/civil partner. You will be able to make gifts of money or specific items and to leave the remainder of your estate after making gifts (i.e. the residuary estate) to as many persons or charities you would like either in equal shares or in varying percentages.

The Guardian is the person appointed by the court who will take care of your minor children if you cannot. If you do not nominate a guardian in your Will, it will be done for you by the courts. Whatever informal agreements you may have made will be given little, if any, consideration.

On the other hand, the court will give great deference to whom you appoint through your Will to serve as guardian and the likelihood of the court not honouring that appointment is slim.A Loving Home: Obviously the most important aspect of picking a guardian is choosing someone who would provide a loving environment for your children.