Will Solicitors for clients in Sussex including Brighton, Uckfield and Seaford
There are many reasons for making a will, yet many people still die without having put one in place. A well drafted will can take account of particular family circumstances such as a second marriage, children who have financial or matrimonial problems, or a beneficiary with a disability.
Why Make A Will?
Without a will your estate will pass according to the intestacy rules. Put simply, you should put a will in place if you:
- have children
- are unmarried, separated or divorced
- if you want to make gifts to people or organisations outside your immediate family
- or simply want to avoid as much inheritance tax as possible
In Safe Hands
One of the most important decisions in making a will is appointing executors, since they’re the people who will actually carry out the terms of the will when the time comes.
Executors need to be people you can trust to administer your estate properly, including acting as trustees where appropriate. Most people choose close friends or relatives. In many cases, Rix & Kay has also been asked as a firm to act as executors to add an independent, professional view. This also gets round the problem of what happens if an executor dies before you do!
It’s important to ensure that any will is kept safely. Rix & Kay offers a DeedSafe service, providing secure, 100 per cent confidential storage for clients’ wills and other legal documents. This is available free of charge at all our offices.
At What Age Should Your Children Inherit?
With a will in place, you decide at what age your children inherit. Their share can be placed in trust, under the control of trustees, until they reach a specified age. Only by making a will, can you determine exactly what happens to your estate in the event of your death.
Inheritance Tax
Any gifts left to your spouse or to charity are free from inheritance tax. If your estate is not passing to a spouse or to a charity, inheritance tax is payable on anything over the nil rate band, and is charged at 40 per cent. In drawing up your will we can advise on inheritance tax, working with our specialist tax lawyers.
Update Your Wishes
How To Change Your Will
Making a will isn’t a once-and-for-all affair. You can alter it as often as you like to reflect changes in your needs and circumstances. As your circumstances change, it is important to review matters. Marriage can revoke a will, the arrival of children or the death of an intended executor or beneficiary may require changes to be made to an existing will.
While any will is better than none at all, one that’s out of date can cause almost as many problems.
Rix & Kay strongly recommends a review at least every three years, and any time that there is a significant change in your circumstances.
Register Your Will
Certainty.co.uk is a national Wills register. Being unable to locate a will causes untold distress and the potential loss for families and beneficiaries.
If a Will cannot be found after someone has passed on:
- Beneficiaries may not receive inheritance accordance to instructions
- The Will maybe found after the estate has been distributed
- An old Will maybe discovered and deemed as final wishes
- Family disputes can occur
- Children and dependants may not be looked after in the way you have chosen
- It may be assumed that a Will was never made
