Last Will & Testament, who needs to write a will

Everybody? Not quite. There is one class of people who need to make a will, or more technically correctly, a last will and testament. Bear in mind that this document would tell the courts in as much detail as you care to provide, how you want the things in your life to be distributed among the people in your life. We are hereby concerned with a certain class of people, those who care how their assets would be distributed after they have left this earth.

Unfortunately, Benjamin Franklin's aphorism holds true today as indeed it always has. The last will and testament is indeed the foundation of estate planning, of which more in a different article. As part of the process of growing up, you've acknowledged the fact that like everyone else, you're going to die someday - of course you have no idea when it would be but prudence suggests now would be the right time to make a will - after all there is little to be gained by procrastination - best to have that loose end tied up before one gets too old or to sick or even dies suddenly.

Please resist the temptation to try to write your will yourself or even using a web based service. They turn out to be false economy. While books, manuals, kits and online services are great in their own way. They fail to provide the context that a qualified and experienced legal executive would bring to writing your own will.

A decent legal executive or solicitor would provide a properly valid and legally will for a fee of generally less than £200, often near the hundred pound mark. For this you should expect a face to face or telephone consultation, during which the salient facts of the important people (and pets and charities) in your life and things in your life are gathered. Your will writing professional should then, starting with a blank sheet of paper draw up a will that is suited to your financial and emotional circumstances. For this fee you should expect a bound valid will needing only your signature in the presence of your 2 witnesses. There must be very few people, and I trust you are not a part of that very small minority, who are happy for their estate or a significant portion of their wealth to pass to the government needlessly.

A correctly drawn up will would be the first step in formulating a plan in reducing the amount of inheritance tax that your beneficiaries would have to pay. As you are one of the class of people who care about protecting your loved ones, and you want as much of your estate to pass to certain people with the minimum of fuss and expense.

Take that first step in preserving the wealth of your family visit Maximum Inheritance and see what you can do to leave your estate in the hands of those you care about.