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Author Topic: Before you make your Will  (Read 1314 times)

jaymac

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Before you make your Will
« on: October 16, 2013, 07:14:50 pm »

Ugh! not a topic most people want to talk about but this is a word of warning to those who have or are about to make one . A friend of mine passed on at the Weekend and already the vultures are circling .No not the family or any creditors . Alas he made the mistake of including a Charity in his Will. Nothing wrong with that I hear.  decent thing to do Aye maybe if you  allocate a fixed sum but should you  alocate a percentage  then  It hits the Fan. The charity are already in there and  the family have been told  there has to be  3 Valuations on the house   an internal inspection as to what goods ie TV's etc., When the family asked the solicitor why  that was not explained at the making of the Will  were told he was not allowed to
 So at a time of grief and stress and making all arrangements they have you put up with this/ I must add there was no concern regarding the amount the charity would eventually get just the  callous   We Want attitude
Jay
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2013, 07:37:06 pm »

If you have anything to leave then do make a will and ensure that your solicitor fully reflects your wishes, otherwise things can certainly go pear shaped. People simply don't realise the implications, especially when they make DiY wills. Bequests to charities should be specific sums and not a vague percentage of the residue otherwise things happen as just described.
Making a proper will doesn't cost much and can avoid a huge amount of heartache and hassle for those left behind. Not making one is even worse but many people seem to assume that they will never die and leave a dreadful mess for their survivors.
 
Colin
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kinmel

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2013, 09:18:18 am »

If you have anything to leave then do make a will and ensure that your solicitor fully reflects your wishes, otherwise things can certainly go pear shaped. People simply don't realise the implications, especially when they make DiY wills. Bequests to charities should be specific sums and not a vague percentage of the residue otherwise things happen as just described.
Making a proper will doesn't cost much and can avoid a huge amount of heartache and hassle for those left behind. Not making one is even worse but many people seem to assume that they will never die and leave a dreadful mess for their survivors.
 
Colin

You also need to be very careful with leaving specific sums too.

A relative of mine owned a large house when she wrote her Will and left £10,000 each to two charities and the remainder to her daughter.

The lady went into a nursing home two years later and her house was sold to pay for it. She died years later and by the time the funeral and charities had been paid and daughter was left with nothing.

My Will allows the Executors to determine any charitable donations.
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grasshopper

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2013, 09:53:11 am »

We made wills years ago to make sure that our son and my two step daughters got equal shares of whatever's left of our 'estate' but all being well it's our intention to spend as much as we can before we go.


Can't see the point of working hard all your life to leave it to someone else - as we get older we plan to sell the house, rent an apartment and enjoy as much as we can before we become too decrepit.
All this is dependent on our health of course....and if we've spent our savings someone else can pay to look after us for a change- like we have as British tax payers for years.

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jaymac

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2013, 10:18:15 am »

Kimmel that is the reason  he made it a Percentage Donation  which in theory is quite sensible.It would prevent   what  you described  .My Bitch was about the powers of the charity to intervene with the Family particularly so immediate . One would have thought  they had nowt to do with it  and just had to wait till it was all dished out as others have to.Perhaps their are ways of   preventing this happening but as said his solicitor claimed he was not allowed to inform him of that arrangement.
Colin I would say that providing   you have a guarantee that the claimant  has no powers and just has to wait  I see nowt wrong with a percentage  bequest .Personally   I'm with grasshopper
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grasshopper

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2013, 11:26:32 am »

A couple of other things to consider when making your will. My wife and I went through it and are now helping my in-laws rewrite theirs - bearing in mind that excluding myself, all the others are in second marriages with children from previous partners.


If any of the beneficiaries of the will precede you, who then gets their share if you don't change the will and you peg it?


Our wills, because of my wife's two girls, included them as my issue and they shared equally in any inheritance along with their half brother, if the girls weren't married when we died, inherited and then died shortly afterwards (god forbid) their estranged father would be their next of kin and inherit the result of our hard graft - which he would pour down his neck or stick in his arm...


We also lodged our will with a will company - that way, in theory, our son couldn't destroy any will upon our demise and we would then be deemed to die intestate and 'my' girls could be excluded as they aren't my issue - although I've been their dad since the eldest was 3 and the other 20 months.


If you have any particular momentoes you wish to pass on to individual, specify and explain why in a seperate letter.


We've lost quite a few relatives over the years - never got a red cent from any of them, because each one that passed on never changed any will they'd written, lodged it properly or it just got ignored - or by the time the 'expenses had all been sorted there was nothing left. My wife and sister-in-law lost half the value of a house because it all went to their step-mother and her daughters as the second wife was next of kin...the will he wrote was never found.


Big National charities as much as you might think do good works - are really parasitic businesses that survive by leeching off generous people. As was written earlier, soon as you've gone the charity want your cash - you don't really think the solicitor was working for nothing? 
Check into some of these charities, the cash left AFTER the expenses are covered doesn't leave much to do good works, some are as low as 2 pence out every £1


Personally I feel if you want to do something good for people you love, treat them while you're alive, at least you can enjoy it too and see the pleasure it gives, invest in their future now rather than watch them struggling and looking forward to you dying so they can have your house!


Do your homework before you commit anything to paper..it's an absolute minefield and the last thing that you'll probably be remembered for so it'll pay to get it right - use a good will company or solicitor, ask questions and wait for proper answers, make copies of EVERYTHING and sign to prove authenticity, distribute to relevant beneficiaries in sealed envelopes. The last chance to prove you loved someone or completely despised them!
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grendel

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2013, 11:27:41 am »

my wifes great uncle was very specific, his tools went to an engineer friend, the family got their pick of the household stuff and furniture, everything that was left - with respect to household goods clothing and furniture went to a charity.
still - I would have loved to rehome some of his tools, he was a telescope engineer at hurstmonceux, his engineering tool set was very comprehensive, taps and dies in every shape and size, drills squares etc, half a garage full of tools.
Grendel
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grendel

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Re: Before you make your Will
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2013, 11:31:38 am »

another friend started out as a barrister - more recently he has been working for the Catholic church helping people write them into their wills (it paid better than a barrister?), since then he has recently been ordained.
Grendel
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