Do you have a to do list? I have many! There is the list of things I need to do before tomorrow morning, the list of things for next week, home and work version, and a long term list at home which includes things like decorate the spare room, clear garage, organise photographs. One thing I don’t have on that list, unlike many people, is write a Will because that has been done recently, along with lasting powers of attorney.
According to an article in The Independent earlier this year, nearly two-thirds of adults don’t have a Will and even in the over 55’s, 42% don’t. Further, up to 1.5million people may have unknowingly made their Will void by getting married, as marriage automatically revokes a Will made previously leaving it invalid. Further, statistics indicate that one in 10 people plan to update their Will to include children and grandchildren, but have not got round to it. A quarter of Wills have not been updated for at least five years.
One of the top reasons for not having a Will is not getting round to it. Other reasons include believing they don’t have anything valuable to leave, and they don’t need to write one until they’re older.
There are however, many good reasons to find the time to make a Will. The Money Advisory Service gives four main reasons:
- A Will makes it easier for your family or friends to sort everything out when you die – without a Will, the process can be more time-consuming and stressful.
- If you don’t write a Will, everything you own will be shared out in a standard way defined by the law – which isn’t always the way you might want.
- A Will can help reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax that might be payable on the value of the property and money you leave behind.
Writing a Will is especially important if you have children or other family who depend on you financially, or if you want to leave something to people outside your immediate family.
This month, there is a fifth important reason to write a Will – it is St Oswald’s Wills Month and our Newcastle private client team are writing Wills in return for a payment to this amazing charity.
So you can tick one of those jobs off the to do list and support a good cause in to the bargain. What better incentive is there to do something you know needs doing.
The details of the scheme are set out below. Please feel free to pass these on to family, friends and colleagues. Remember, statistically over 50% of the adults you know don’t have a Will and 10% of those who do, may need to update it and many more have an invalid Will.
The more Wills we write, the more we change this statistic and the more money we raise for the hospice. The suggested donation for the hospice is £90 for a single Will and £125 for a couple to prepare a mirror Will, 100% of your donation will go to St Oswald’s.
If you would like to make an appointment, please call Andrew Steel from our Private Client team on 0191 232 2574 or via email on asteel@jacksons-law.com.
