What are the steps to prepare, write, sign and witness your will?
A will is a legal document that tells people what you want to happen to your money, property, and possessions after you pass away. It is important to have a will in place, as it can help to avoid disputes and ensure that your wishes are carried out correctly.
We recommend following a three-step approach to creating your will:
1) Preparing to write your will
It can be helpful to start with a blank sheet of paper. There are a lot of decisions that will need to be made, so it’s important to take stock before you get down to writing your will.
We recommend thinking about:
Your assets: What do you own? This includes your properties, investments, bank accounts, and other personal items or heirlooms with either monetary or personal value that you might own.
Your beneficiaries: Who do you want to inherit your assets? This could include your spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends, or charities.
Your wishes: What are your specific wishes for the distribution of your assets? Do you want to leave everything to your spouse? Do you want to set up a trust for your children? Do you want to leave any money to charity?
Your executors: Who will be responsible for carrying out your wishes? This is an important decision, as your executors will have a lot of responsibility.
Depending on your circumstances and preferences, you may also wish to consider:
Children: if you have children under the age of 18, you may want to appoint guardians in the event that you pass away, it’s good to check with your chosen guardians that they are willing and able to take on the responsibility.
Pets: If you have pets, you may want to consider making provisions for them in your will. You can leave them to a specific person or to be re-homed through a charity. You may wish to leave an additional gift to cover the cost of their care.
Debts: You should also consider what will happen to your debts after you pass away. Your executors are responsible for paying your debts from your estate, you can also purchase a life insurance policy to pay off any remaining debts or mortgage if you pass away before these are paid off in full.
Funeral arrangements: You can also make provisions for your funeral arrangements in your will. This may include the type of funeral you want, who you would like to be invited, and where you want to be buried or cremated.
Once you’re reasonably clear on the above, it’s time to start writing your will.
2) Writing your will
Nowadays, there are multiple ways that you can draft your will, such as using a will writing service such as Will Easy, going to your local solicitor, or writing a will yourself (which we don’t usually recommend).
It’s helpful to consider how complicated your affairs are (for example, is your family situation complicated with children from different relationships, do you own a business or a property abroad?) and estimate the value of your estate and whether you would like to protect certain assets and/or reduce your inheritance tax liability, for example through use of trusts.
If your circumstances are relatively straightforward, Will Easy can save considerable time, effort and expense compared to using a solicitor or writing your will yourself. We’ve designed a very simple process to write your will and have it checked by a qualified will writer to ensure that it is clear, comprehensive and legally-binding once it is signed and witnessed.
Using Will Easy, you will be asked to answer a relatively simple set of questions, including:
Your name, address and date of birth.
The names of your beneficiaries or charities to which you would like to make a donation.
Any specific gifts you want to make (monetary or personal effects).
How you want to divide your residuary estate (what’s left over).
Who you wish to look after your children and/or pets.
Your desired funeral arrangements.
The names of your executors.
After you’ve completed your details and wishes and made payment, your will is reviewed by our team of expert will writers before it lands in your inbox a few days later.
3) Signing, witnessing and storing your will
We recommend keeping a copy of your will at home in a safe place and storing the original signed will away from your home, for example, at the National Will Archive. This will help to ensure that a copy of your latest will remains undamaged and can be easily located when you pass away.
You must sign your will in the presence of two witnesses. The witnesses must be over 18 years old and not related to you or your beneficiaries, and should also not be beneficiaries themselves. They will need to sign the will in your presence and write their full name and address on your will.
We usually recommend asking your friends, coworkers, or a close acquaintance who you interact with on a regular basis. The witnesses do not need to read the will or understand its contents, and if you do not have any suitable witnesses, you can ask a solicitor to act as a witness.
Once your will has been signed and witnessed, it’s now legally binding. As noted above, it’s important to ensure that you have two copies stored in a safe location, and remember to tell your executors where they can find your will.
