In England and Wales, you can leave a business in your will and the business will form part of your estate when you pass away. If you’re a sole trader, the business can be left to your next of kin or whoever stands to inherit your estate. If the business is owned by a company or partnership, you will need to leave the shares or partnership interest in your will.

If you’re a foreign national living in England and Wales, you need two wills, one that is valid in England and Wales and another that is valid in your home country. This is because the laws of inheritance vary from country to country, and you want to make sure that your wishes are carried out in accordance with the law. Any assets that you own which are physically located in the UK, such as savings in a UK bank account, property, vehicles, furniture and household items, will be subject to the laws of intestacy if you do not have a will.

If you are a British expat, you likely need two wills, one valid in both England and Wales and the other valid in the country where you are living. This is because the laws of inheritance vary from country to country, and you will need to make sure that your wishes are carried out in accordance with the law in the jurisdiction where your assets are located. It is important to have your second will drafted by a lawyer or solicitor who is familiar with the laws of country where you are living.

Whenever you write a will, it reflects your wishes at the time of writing. Therefore, it’s normal to think about your beneficiaries and your estate as it stands today, rather than at the time of your passing. You may expect to have additional children or grandchildren before you pass away, and would like to account for them. This can be a very common reason to either postpone writing your will, or face the need to update your will again in the near future.

If you pass away with multiple wills in England and Wales, the most recent will that is valid will be used to distribute your estate. A will is considered to be valid if it is made by a mentally competent person, signed by two witnesses, and dated. If a more recent valid will is found at a later date, it will revoke the previous will, regardless of whether the previous will has already been distributed.

If a will is written under force, fear, or undue influence in England and Wales, it is considered to be invalid and unenforceable. This is because the law presumes that a person who makes a will under these circumstances was not acting of their own free will and that the will does not reflect their true wishes.

Testamentary capacity is the legal term used to describe the mental state required to make a valid will. If a person does not have testamentary capacity, their otherwise legal will may be challenged and declared invalid. This means that the property will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy, which may not be in accordance with their wishes.

When you write a will, it reflects your circumstances and wishes at the time of writing. There are some things that you can anticipate will change over time, for example, if you know that your children are planning to have children themselves. However, there are also a lot of known unknowns, such as whether one of your beneficiaries might pass away before you or possibly at the same time, in case of a tragedy impacting multiple family members.

A non-traditional family is a very broad term encompassing any family that does not fit the traditional nuclear family model. This can include single-parent families, same-sex parent families, blended families, adoptive families, families with children from previous relationships, and families with children who are not biologically related to either or both of their parents.

The rules for what happens to properties outside of the UK when you pass away in England and Wales will depend on the laws of the country where the property is located. In Europe, all countries (except for UK, Ireland and Denmark) opted in to the EU Succession Regulation.

Contrary to popular belief, if you get divorced, remarried or enter a new civil partnership in England and Wales, your existing will is not automatically revoked. This means that your ex-spouse may remain a beneficiary and your new spouse doesn’t automatically become a new beneficiary if you have an existing will that reflects you wishes from your previous relationship.