Every year in January, I reassess my will. It's important to have a will as it keeps your financial planning organised. Being good financially, means planning as much as possible in advance for every eventuality.
Many people do not even have a will, yet most rich people do. Without a will there can be many problems and arguments caused by people fighting for your assets afterwards. Quite a few famous people died without a will. Almost half of people in Britain currently do not have a will.
There are two ways to make a will. You can use a solicitor, or do it yourself.
If you use a solicitor, they can start from about £100 and might cost more. Solicitors can act as witnesses and executors for your will, as well as give you advice on how to distribute your assets properly. They then send your will off to the UK probate registry, and probably keep a copy in their office. The problem with solicitors, is that if you do pass away (which hopefully will never happen), they can charge any administration fee they like for executing your will. They might take 90% of your assets as their payment, and leave 10% for your beneficiaries, who knows?
I use a DIY pack which you can buy from Amazon for about a tenner. You basically fill out what assets you want to go to whom. You nominate 1)Somebody to execute your will, and 2)a witness who will also observe you sealing the will. You then send the will and a fee, currently £15 to the UK probate registry.
No matter how you prepare, your will must be sent to the UK probate registry. This government department deals with all affairs concerning a persons assets, and there is no way to bypass it. Some private companies offer services to store your will on their premises, but as stated before, this will not be more valid than a will stored at the Probate Registry, and such companies would also have to send the Registry the original will anyway. Guess who pays for all this? You do. You are better off photocopying your will, sending the original to the Probate Registry and keeping the copy in a safe place where you can look at it when you want to.
One thing is for sure, you won't have much use for money in the graveyard and worms don't take credit cards, so make plans now, to distribute it in accordance with your wishes. I plan to leave a lot of money to charity, so this motivates me to become as financially proficient as possible, in order to leave as much as possible behind for good causes.
I always say I don't want to take a lot of money with me when I'm gone, I just want to have it with me while I'm here.
You can find out more about wills at the UK government probate registry.
Many people do not even have a will, yet most rich people do. Without a will there can be many problems and arguments caused by people fighting for your assets afterwards. Quite a few famous people died without a will. Almost half of people in Britain currently do not have a will.
There are two ways to make a will. You can use a solicitor, or do it yourself.
If you use a solicitor, they can start from about £100 and might cost more. Solicitors can act as witnesses and executors for your will, as well as give you advice on how to distribute your assets properly. They then send your will off to the UK probate registry, and probably keep a copy in their office. The problem with solicitors, is that if you do pass away (which hopefully will never happen), they can charge any administration fee they like for executing your will. They might take 90% of your assets as their payment, and leave 10% for your beneficiaries, who knows?
I use a DIY pack which you can buy from Amazon for about a tenner. You basically fill out what assets you want to go to whom. You nominate 1)Somebody to execute your will, and 2)a witness who will also observe you sealing the will. You then send the will and a fee, currently £15 to the UK probate registry.
No matter how you prepare, your will must be sent to the UK probate registry. This government department deals with all affairs concerning a persons assets, and there is no way to bypass it. Some private companies offer services to store your will on their premises, but as stated before, this will not be more valid than a will stored at the Probate Registry, and such companies would also have to send the Registry the original will anyway. Guess who pays for all this? You do. You are better off photocopying your will, sending the original to the Probate Registry and keeping the copy in a safe place where you can look at it when you want to.
One thing is for sure, you won't have much use for money in the graveyard and worms don't take credit cards, so make plans now, to distribute it in accordance with your wishes. I plan to leave a lot of money to charity, so this motivates me to become as financially proficient as possible, in order to leave as much as possible behind for good causes.
I always say I don't want to take a lot of money with me when I'm gone, I just want to have it with me while I'm here.
You can find out more about wills at the UK government probate registry.
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