Do you really need a will?

Do You Really Need A Will?

By Charlotte Isherwood, Wills & Probate Solicitor at ZEDRA

Do you need a Will? To some people the answer to this question may be obvious because of the industry in which they work or previous experiences with family members dying with, or without, a Will.

However, some people may not feel it’s relevant to them because they do not have any assets to distribute yet.

Generally speaking, in the UK anyone over the age of 18 can make a valid Will.

Some of the reasons that people who have not yet made a Will give is because they are not married, they don’t own their own property or they don’t have any children.

In the UK, when someone dies without a Will their estate passes in accordance with the Rules of Intestacy, which sets out a specific order of who benefits from the estate. If you die without a Will, unmarried and with no children or grandchildren then your estate would automatically pass in the following order: • to your parents, or if none • to your whole blood siblings, or if none • to your half blood siblings, or if none • to grandparents, or if none • to uncles and aunts of the whole blood, or if none • to uncles and aunts of the half blood.

Ultimately, if none of the above survive you, your assets will pass to the Crown.

Aside from the risk of someone benefitting from your estate who you would not have chosen, dealing with the estate of someone who died without a Will is much more complicated and costly.

When you make a valid Will, you appoint people, or a company, that you trust to be your Executor or Executors. They will deal with your assets, pay any debts owed by you, and ensure that everything that is left passes to the correct people in accordance with your wishes.

Without a valid Will, the Rules of Intestacy will again step in and dictate who has the legal authority to deal with your estate. This not only takes additional time and increases costs but it can also cause family conflict and unnecessary distress for your loved ones.

The reasons for needing a Will may be more obvious to those who own property or have children but there are absolutely no reasons for anyone not to have a Will. www.zedra.com

Leave a Legacy

No matter how small the legacy, leaving a gift in your will ensures you are making a significant contribution to the work of the charity for future generations, not to mention the footprint you will leave. Over the years gifts in wills have helped charities fund their vital work, such as helping vulnerable people, protecting wildlife and domestic animals and the funding of medical research to name just a few causes.

Legacies remain perhaps the most important way you can support your favourite charities. Charities rely heavily on legacies so they can maintain their vital work. No matter how small the legacy it can still make a huge long-term difference. The reality is that without gifts left in wills, many of the charities we know, and support today would struggle to survive and many wouldn't even exist.

The legacy you write into your will today will not be available to the charity for many years to come. However, you will be providing your chosen charity with a vial source of income in future years.

It has been government policy for centuries to encourage charitable giving. Gifts made by will are exempt from inheritance tax. In addition, where more than 10% of the value of the estate is dedicated to charity, the rate of the whole estate is reduced.

Leaving money to a charity is crucial for their good work to continue and if you have certain feelings about how the money should be spent, you can specify that it is for a particular use.

Contributing to the support of charities in your lifetime and as a legacy when you’ve passed on all helps to play your part in helping the good work live on.

Dennis and Beryl’s lasting legacy for homeless pets

As a self-funded charity, the National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) relies on the support of the public and is very grateful to receive donations of any size. While it's not always easy to give money right now, one way around this could be to leave a donation in your Will. In fact, that was exactly what happened in the case of Dennis and Beryl, a lovely couple who adopted dogs from our Cornwall rehoming centre.

At the end of 2019, we learned of the sad news that Beryl had passed away that September, two years after her beloved husband Dennis. Beryl and Dennis were very private, shy people who thought the world of their two rescue dogs Bobby and Morris. Their kindness and support for animals needing a second, or third chance in life was clear long after the day they took their dogs home. They were regular visitors to the Cornwall dog show events, always turning up with a smile on their faces.

As an animal welfare charity, we always take care of the animals we rehome, even if new owners suddenly find themselves unable to continue caring for their rescue pet. When Beryl too passed away, we were contacted by her friend to see if we could take Bobby and Morris back and help them find another equally loving home.We were able to do this and quickly find them new loving homes.

So keen to demonstrate their love for animals, we were overwhelmed to hear a little while later that Beryl had decided to leave a generous donation to the charity in her will, ensuring we can continue the work we do transforming the lives of pets and their owners.

This legacy has enabled us to not only continue to help many more stray cats and dogs, but also start up new schemes to allow NAWT to continue to promote responsible pet ownership and help the community.

Gifts of any size are welcomed and when writing a Will, you could choose to leave a certain sum or choose a percentage of your estate to suit your wishes.

NAWT is currently offering a free Will writing service through Farewill*. To find out more, go to www.farewill.com/nawt-mag or call 0208 050 2686 and quote NAWT. *Limited number of free wills available.