TERMINOLOGY

Home-made wills can be a minefield of problems and some of the following words need to be understood.

Executor/executrix

These are the people you appointed to carry out the terms of your will. Their duties are to have the estate valued, collect in any assets, pay any debts including inheritance tax and distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the will.

You can appoint individuals, firms of solicitors or banks to carry out these functions. As stated previously they can be beneficiaries under the will if they are individuals. If they are organisations they can only charge for their services if there is a specific remuneration clause in the will.

From a practical point of view it is better to have more than one executor and maybe some alternatives in the event of certain people not being able to carry out the functions. Therefore include more than one generation to cover all eventualities.

Beneficiaries

A beneficiary is anyone who obtains some benefits under the will. Both legitimate and illegitimate children are included.

Trustee

This is the term which can most confuse the public; they have a specific view as to what a trust is. The most common form of trust is when the beneficiary is under the age of 18 and therefore cannot give a valid receipt.

The trustee, who is usually also the executor, holds the money or property in trust until the beneficiary comes of age. An age other than 18 can be specified. The trustee is the legal owner and the beneficiary is the beneficial owner. This means that the trustee must transfer the legal title when the trust ends, usually by sending a cheque. Evidence of title comes from the will and the grant of probate.

Wife and husband

Both of these refer to the wife or husband at the time of making the will. Therefore a divorce can make the will invalid. A will can be made in anticipation of marriage and the wife or husband can be named, i.e. someone making a will before honeymooning abroad would be an exception to the rules that marriage revokes a will.

Safekeeping

At the time of writing there is no centralised register of wills that is easily searchable. Your will should be kept in a safe place, preferably with your lawyer, and your executors should be informed as to where it is being held.