Making a Will won’t kill you: how to avoid estate planning headaches

Winter Addis, associate solicitor at law firm Muckle LLP, explains why you shouldn’t put off planning for the future.

Why Will planning matters

We are all quite busy, aren’t we? Our lives can seem quite hectic at times, and sometimes we just need to have a reset – a life admin day where we sort out all those small but time-consuming jobs like organising our diary dates, house insurance renewals and dentist appointments. 

As a society, we have a slight laissez-faire attitude to planning or, more specifically, estate planning and Will writing. It is widely reported that over half of the adults in this country do not have a Will, which likely means that they don’t have other important documents in place, too, like powers of attorney.

It is probably fair to say that most of us don’t like to think about our own demise. And so, making that appointment with our solicitor becomes tomorrow’s problem.

The legal profession is well versed in reacting to problems and we do this naturally, but we are also expert planners – futureproofing and planning for the unexpected. At the same time, there is undoubtedly a culture of expectation of inheritance and, with it, has grown a market for more robust estate planning. 

Safeguarding your wishes through your Will

There has been a lot of commentary in the press recently about contentious probate matters, most notably the case of Jenna Howe who won a share of her father’s £1.4 million estate against his wishes. Leading publications refer to the case and suggest that the state is now infringing on our testamentary freedom.    

Although there are many ways to challenge a Will, some of which have developed through case law and others set in legislation, it does not mean that testamentary freedom is dead. Quite the opposite in fact and the importance of Will writing should not be diminished. 

Writing a Will (and making sure it’s kept up to date) allows you to properly plan for those left behind, mitigate tax, protect beneficiaries, and appoint testamentary guardians and appropriate executors. Other helpful directions can also be included, like funeral and burial wishes.

Without a Will, your estate is distributed according to the rules of intestacy. This could lead to complications and disputes, causing more headaches for your loved ones at an already difficult time.

And so, more of a prompt than anything else… don’t leave it to tomorrow, give us a call today.    

For more information, contact Winter Addis at [email protected] or call 01768 347 084.