Your To-Do-List for Drawing-Up a Will

Getting your will drafted is one of the most important things you can do as a parent and or a home owner. Granted, you won't benefit from it expressly while you're alive, but having complete control over where your estate will end up after your passing actually provides a rather odd sense of security. After all, you can't out a price on ensuring that your family is looked after when you're no longer around, so don't leave it up to chance.

The To Do List

The first thing you need to do when considering getting your will drawn up is to think about whether you want to do it yourself or pay a professional solicitor to do it for you. Both sides have benefits, and both will be legally binding documents. The main difference will be the price, however, with a DIY kit costing as little as £10 in many stationary stores, and a professional consultancy costing up to a few hundred. You should be aware, however, that DIY kits need to done expertly, to the letter, and without any ambiguities in their contents. Therefore, if you're not 100% sure, go professional and contact Coles Probate Services for a consultancy.

Next up, you need to be roughly aware of the size of the estate that you will be leaving behind. Again, this is something easy enough to obtain, and a simple consultancy with a professional probate lawyer can give you the low-down through analysing your individual circumstances. Once this has been obtained, consider then what you will be leaving behind in terms of financial burdens.

Funeral costs are the major one, with funerals costing upwards of several thousand pounds – with the Daily Mail reporting an average cost of £7,600 in 2014. Be sure that whoever is left behind to take care of this (think spouse, children, parents and siblings), a little cash gift is waiting for them to at least, in part, cover these expenses.

Next, consider what further financial burdens you shall leave behind – be they mortgages, loans or otherwise – and take appropriate steps to cover for these. Here, it might be wise to take out an official life insurance policy or set as much money as possible aside to help out. Also bear in mind at this stage what level of tax you may be privy to pay – or your inheritors shall be expected to pay – in relation to the size of your estate. There are some things you can do to avoid/reduce the amount payable, though, so get clued up on what you can do.

Decide Who Gets What

And the last step of the process is to sit down with your loved ones and decide where any left over money shall go. Who will get the house, the car, your savings and your possessions? Normally, this period of consideration will be relatively fluid as most things will likely go to your spouse or your children. Put some serious thought into what might change in their respective circumstances between now and a time when you may pass, though, in order to get a better idea of who should get what.

Fundamentally, be pragmatic. Consider the bigger picture of your Last Will and Testament, and how its contents may affect those you’re leaving behind. Be mindful of what you’re doing, and – most of all – get it done in due time.