Will Writing

When someone dies without leaving a Will, their estate is distributed according to the Rules of Intestacy (the Rules).   The Rules state that the first £270,000 in the estate passes to any spouse or civil partner of the deceased. For this reason, it is important to accurately value an intestate estate so that those

As unwanted Christmas gifts languish in the corner, research reveals the huge investment power of a small pot of money given to children and invested for later life.   Opinium Research on behalf of St James’s Place asked parents of under-18s how much would be spent on Christmas presents for their children. The average sum

When you make a Will, you should appoint one or more executors to deal with the administration of your estate after your death.   You can either choose a trusted relative or friend or appoint a professional.   An executor is responsible for the winding-up of someone’s affairs after they die. This can be a

After someone’s death, the executor named in their Will is responsible for winding up their estate. If the executor dies, either before or during the estate administration, there is a process which must be gone through to find and appoint another executor.   The executor of an estate has the onerous task of collecting in

As the problems of the pandemic continue, there has been a huge rise in the number of people searching online for instructions on writing their own Will.   With difficulties in visiting solicitors’ offices, it can be tempting to have a go at writing a Will yourself. However, it is far more complex than most

Spousal maintenance is a regular payment made by someone to their ex-spouse or civil partner. It will only be ordered to be paid where someone is unable to support themselves. It is different to the maintenance payments made in respect of children and is intended to support the spouse to a reasonable standard.   When

If you jointly own a property at the time of your death, your share will not necessarily pass to the other owner. We take a look at the two different types of joint ownership and what happens when one owner dies. When you buy a property with someone else, you have the choice of owning

The Will of a lottery millionaire has been published following his death at the end of 2019. Colin Weir and his wife Chris won £161 million in 2011. Colin, who was 71 at the time of his death, was from Largs in North Ayrshire.  The prize was one of the biggest ever in the Euromillions

Financial services firm Canada Life says that 59 per cent of adults in the UK have not made a Will. This means that some 31 million people have not chosen who to leave their estate to. Who doesn’t have a Will? The study found that  22 per cent of those without a Will are aged