Importance of Writing A Will

An important step in any estate planning exercise is to ensure you have a valid Will in place that details how your assets will be shared amongst your loved ones.

Did you know over half of UK adults have not written a Will?

Many people have it on their to-do list but don’t want to think about the ‘inevitable. However, by writing a will you can protect your assets and reduce your inheritance tax exposure. It is wise to be pro-active and write a will at the earliest opportunity.

If you die without a valid Will your estate will be divided according to statutory rules. This is known as intestacy law. There can be detrimental consequences if you die without leaving a valid will, including:

• Not being able to protect your family against your assets being passed to the wrong people.
• Not being able to protect your estate if the people inheriting cannot be trusted.
• Not being able to choose your guardians to look after your minor children.
• Increasing the cost of administrating the estate before it passes.
• Increased risk of a higher inheritance tax bill.
• Likely litigation challenges from unwanted persons to claim your estate.

When writing a will there are some key things you’ll want to think about in order to create an inheritance tax planning strategy:

• The value of your estate. Make sure you are aware of its value or have your total assets calculated.
• Who will inherit your It’s time to decide who will benefit and how you’re going to divide your estate.
• Who will be your executors (people named to help administer your estate on death). This is an important step in writing a will because you want to make sure your wishes are carried out. Most people ask friends or family but if you have a complex estate it can be wise to seek a professional executor.
• Should you create a trust on death to help mitigate against inheritance tax or provide safeguards as to how assets and money are passed to your beneficiaries.

How we can help

At Elite we have staff that are specifically trained in Will Writing. Therefore, we can help you create a plan as to how your estate should be administered on death to protect your loved ones and assist in mitigating against inheritance tax.

We can provide advice on the many types of trusts that are available to be created in life or on death.

Once you have decided on the best strategy for leaving your estate we can put you in touch with a local and reputable will writer who can draft your will in line with your wishes. We can then review it to ensure it meets your needs and any tax planning strategy.