DRAWING UP A WILL

Basically a will sets out how your net assets (your estate) should be distributed, and nominates an executor (or executors) to carry out this task. To make the will valid your signature on it has to be witnessed by two people aged 18 or over, neither of whom or whose spouses will benefit from the will in any way, and who are together with you when the will is signed and dated.

This may seem such an easy process that you wonder why people bother with lawyers or professional will-makers. Certainly, DIY wills are perfectly admissable and you can buy special will forms from stationery shops and obtain will information packs from Age Concern and Help the Aged. However a handwritten or typed will on ordinary paper will serve the purpose just as well, provided it is signed and witnessed, since it is not the appearance of the document which is important, but the actual content (see Figure 2).

If your wishes are straighforward a DIY will may be perfectly adequate, but here I must sound a word of caution. Wills are legal documents and, as such, need to be carefully drafted. Careless wording can lead to unintended results and if the terms of the will are vague or unclear the will might have to go before a court for clarification.

For instance, I leave my estate to be divided among my family’ may sound perfectly adequate to you, but it is a terribly vague sentence which could give rise to all kinds of

misunderstandings. By family do you mean your wife and children, or are all your sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles and aunts included? And do you mean to exclude anyone who is not a blood relation, such as a stepchild?

You also need to pose the question ‘what if’? For example, what if one of your beneficiaries dies? Do you want his or her share to be redistributed among the other beneficiaries or should it go to the offspring of that person? And what if both you and your partner die together in a road accident? Who would inherit your estate then?

In order to avoid any confusion, you should write down the full name of each beneficiary (e.g. ‘my sister Winifred Audrey Green or her children Teresa and Geoffrey Green if she should predecease me’) and direct how you wish your assets to be apportioned among them. You could either state a lump sum or a percentage of your estate. The final beneficiary of your will receives what is left of your estate after the others have received their share. This is known as the residue.

You may include in your will instructions regarding your funeral and body or organ donation, but this could also be stated in an attached letter. Organ transplants can be a boon in prolonging the lives of others, and unfortunately demand exceeds supply. In addition to giving an indication in your will you should also inform the NHS Blood and Transplant agency and ideally carry a donor card on your person. There is also a demand for bodies for use in medical schools, and if you would like to donate your body for medical science, mention it in the will and inform a medical school or HM Inspector of Anatomy of your bequest.

It is customary to have a sentence in the document revoking any previous will you may have made, even though you may not have made one. This is just to indicate that this is definitely your last will and testament.