What do I need to know before I write my will tomorrow?

[Riddzy]

Visiting solicitor to write first ever will tomorrow. Know absolutely nothing, really.

Here are the salient facts:

• DP and I are unmarried
  
• we have a 5-month-old DD
  
• we do not own any property or have any fixed assets
  
• we have savings/shares in various places totalling around £25K
  
• we have two sets of guardians earmarked (they have both agreed).
  

Do we need to specify amounts bequeathed to each person, or should it be a percentage in case our finances rise or fall?
Do we need to specify one guardian over another? I would just like to leave it up to circumstance and for the guardians to decide between them but DP disagrees.
If DD was to be entrusted to a guardian, is it better for our assets to go to them, or to be held for her until she is 21, or a mixture of both.

There is probably loads I haven't considered, so any suggestions gratefully received.

[mumblechum1]

Hi Riddzy, I'm a will writer and if you were one of my clients, I'd be asking you:

1. Who you'd like to appoint as your executors. I'd imagine that you and your dp would appoint one another to act on the first death, with two default executors. The default executors would usually also act as Trustees, ie they'd look after the money until your child/ren reached a specified age, usually 18,21 or 25. The Executors should be separate from the Guardians.
   

1. Whether you would like to leave any specific legacies, such as jewellery or other possessions, and if so I'd normally suggest that the will just refers to a separate Letter of Wishes which will contain your instructions regarding these items. That way you can change your mind about personal possessions without having to re-do your will.
   

1. Whether you'd like to leave any pecuniary legacies, ie a fixed cash sum to anyone.
   

1. Whether you are liable for inheritance tax. As you are unmarried, you each only have a single person's allowance of £325k. I know that you're under that now, but the chances are that when you're elderly the situation may change and so I'd be advising you about minimising your liability.
   

1. Whether you intend to marry. If you do, then your will is automatically revoked on your marriage unless you specifically state that it will stand. There's obviously a tax advantage (not very romantic I know!) if you do marry.
   

1. Who you want to appoint as Guardians. You can have 4, as you suggest, and put an expression of wishes into your will regarding how that is sorted.
   

1. Whether you wish to put a clause in to say that the Guardians should be reimbursed for expenses from the trust fund (I recommend that you do that, rather than specifying a sum magicked out of the air).
   

8.Not relevant to you, but I'd also ask whether you have any assets or property abroad, or own shares in a private limited company.

Your solicitor will no doubt advise you not to name your child specifically in case you have any other children who would potentially be accidentally excluded if not named. I'd normally word the will to say that your residuary estate on the second death is divided equally between all of your surviving children.

Hope this helps.

For anyone who's interested, I have a paid for advert under Small Businesses on the Classified Section.

[Riddzy]

Hi Mumblechum,

Thank you SO much for taking the time to write this.

1. Is the executor usually a family member or trusted friend? We don't have any close family left after the guardians have been taken out of the equation - other than parents.
   

1. Is the Letter of Wishes a formal document or is it something that I can add to as I add to my collection of rare diamondss (for example!)
   

Thanks again :)

[Riddzy]

Oh, one more thing: I am not from the UK, and I have a small amount of savings and shares in my home country. Can these be included in a will written in the UK?

[mumblechum1]

Yes, executors are often siblings or close friends. Parents can act but you have to think about their ages and, as they get older, perhaps substitute someone else.

The letter of wishes will be prepared by your solicitor but is v straightforward, the version I use is in a list format.

Yes, savings, shares etc in a foreign country can be covered by an English will, but not land & buildings.

[HappyAsASandboy]

Can I ask a question too?

I have thought quite hard about trustees, and really don't want to risk my guardians struggling to get legitimate money from the trust fund.

Our named guardian will be my sister (she has agreed, with much crying), and we'd like to have three trustees syo avoid a stalemate. Our current thinking is to ask DH's sister to be a trustee, and a long-time mutual friend of ours. The third person would logically be my sister, which I thought would work, but then your advice above advises that guardians shouldn't be trustees?

Could you explain why?

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

Ooh, thank you for this. DP and I also need to get a will sorted & this is exactly what I needed to know. Watching with interest in case there is any more advice.

[mumblechum1]

Happy, it would be ok for your sister to be a third trustee because the other two are independent. Problems arise where Mr and Mrs x are acting as Guardians and the only trustees are also Mr and Mrs x. Having other, independent trustees will hopefully avoid any conflict of interest.

Having the same people in both roles means that they have absolute control over the children's money and can do what they like with it. Typical example is where they decide to take the whole family, ie themselves, their children and yours on holiday and pay for all of those holidays out of the trust fund. If separate trustees were acting they would hopefully have the sense to only give the Guardians the money for your children, and to keep the trust as intact as reasonably possible until the children are of age.

The other reason to have separate Guardians and Trustees is to spread the load of responsibility. Acting as executors is tough enough, there's a lot of paperwork, and then if the children are still minor then they have the responsibility of investing the money in the trust and making decisions about how and when money should be taken out in advance. To add looking after recently bereaved children onto their shoulders would be a step too far for most people.

[HappyAsASandboy]

Thanks Mumblechum, that's given me some things to think about. I'd given a lot if thought to the combination of trustees from a 'decide when to release money' point of view, but none at all to the fact that these three will have to make investment decisions. It doesn't feel like there'll be a lot to invest, but when you add life insurance/dependants pension to whatever the house might fetch in up to 18 years time, there could be a fair investment responsibility.

Is there any way of minimising the paperwork/decisions about the trust while I am here to do it?

[mumblechum1]

Short answer is, not really. I assume that you're not exactly elderly, so honestly wouldn't get tied up in knots about the details at all. Your execs/trustees have a reasonably wide discretion, and in smaller estates, the trust can be as simple as a bank savings account in the name of the trustees on behalf of the child. Others need to be spread across a range of investments but if the trustees need advice they can take it from a professional and their fees can come out of the estate.

I do recommend, however that when anyone makes a will, they keep an updated note with it of their assets, savings account numbers etc.

[HappyAsASandboy]

Thanks Mumblechum. Just looking up how far I am from Marlow! Would prefer face to face than phone, so hopefully I'm not too far away

[mumblechum1]

That's fine; probably about 95% of my clients are miles away (Carlisle to Devon to Kent) but I do travel to see clients if they're within 10 miles of Marlow at no extra charge.

[SarahBumBarer]

Hi mumblechum - can I be cheeky and ask why you can't include non UK land and buildings? Is that because of the specific laws of oveseas countries (eg France requiring equal division between children and such like or something else) and accordingly what do/can you say about such properties in a will?

[DH and I are just about getting our act together regarding wills having done the classically bad thing of ignoring it because we could not agree on guardians]

[mumblechum1]

Sarah, it isn't cheeky, it's a sensible question .

As you say, every country has its own laws on who can inherit property in that particular country, so for clients with a house overseas, their English will states that it covers everything except any property they own in another country at the date of their death. They then need to do a will in the other country dealing with the foreign property, and make sure that the lawyers doing the second will are aware of the first so one doesn't accidentally revoke the other. Copies of the second will should be kept with the first and vice versa.

[SarahBumBarer]

Thanks mumblechum - we keep dreaming of buying a little flat in Berlin and at some point DH is likely to inherit property in Australia. I also need to understand what the implications are of him being non UK domiciled.

It's no wonder I keep burying my head in the sand everytime I come to thinking about the whole thing... but baby steps forward so thank you!

[mumblechum1]

Sarah, you know where I am if you want to ask anything else, my website is linked to my advert on Small Businesses & I'm happy to answer any questions

[SarahBumBarer]

Thank you mumblechum. DH actually uttered the immortal words "we need to sort out our wills" last night. If he is now starting to focus on the matter that is a giant leap forward!!

[mumblechum1]

I've just had a couple in my office who are 89 and 87 and only got around to it today!