60% of adults in the U.K do not have a Will. Why is that?
- Thread starter Mike-Smith
- Start date
The answers
1. The missus
2. The Greek bar owner - having encouraged No 1 to invest in his business before dumping her a year later.
3. Err, yes!
@Lucan Unlordly
I hear you but i still kind of feel you are judging my decision that "I completely trust my wife" as kind of a slur against my better judgement based on your reckless own moral compass. Sorry.
I have a rock solid marriage, my wife is my best friend, mother to my two children and we are inseparable. We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary next year. I have no interest in cheating on her, too busy, neither does she.
And anyhow, she's not a fan of Greece or interested in becoming the next "Shirley Valentine"
- not everyone wants to elope with the next sexy thing that's passing through, there is more to life than that. We are in at a deeper level than that, we are beyond questioning our trust of each other. Take care
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What happened to the kids? Did the Greek Bar Owner sell them?The answers
1. The missus
2. The Greek bar owner - having encouraged No 1 to invest in his business before dumping her a year later.
3. Err, yes!
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On this subject I agree, can be difficult conversations to be had with family / parents etc but as you point out not thinking about it can cause major problems as one of my management team found out to their horror a few years back. Especially if left too late and a family member is shell we say confused and venerable and open to exploration by another family member who gains control over the estate and accounts and clears them out before anyone knows whats happened. It's something to be aware of.
Someone else I knew had their whole family trust fund (very large sums of money involved) emptied out by their solicitor reg flags started waving only when private schools fees couldn't be paid..........the solicitor was a family member (now serving time) so my advice is don't bury your head in the sand or take your eye off the ball.
I think of It, a bit like business always have two signatures to get your hands on funds.
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I think a lot of people assume a pension will still pay out to those left behind, many a work pension probably will but so many people now sort their own pension plan and unless thats what you have set up (paid those extra monthly costs for) it may well not give them the peace of mind they thought they had.
And not wishing to teach people to suck eggs, as most of this stuff is done on line now and can be spread across several institutions (and if your wife is anything like mine regards computer savvy) I would make sure they have a full list of links, policy numbers etc etc tucked away in your safe ...... just in case the worst ever happens.
A very dear friend of mine went in for a very routine operation, he never left the operating theatre alive, it's taken his wife over a year to sort out their financial affairs. Without being to morbid this morning it taught me life can really throw a curved ball at you when you least expect it.
As someone said "assumption is the mother of all F...... ups.
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Your points are valid - most people know deep down that a will is a good idea.
I'd suggest that, specific to solicitors you have 2 hurdles here:
1. Lawyers tend to poor at presenting things in empathetic, human terms, which will alienate a lot of potential clients.
2. The general perception that fees will go something like Peter Cook's 'aversion therapy' sketch..
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- Original Poster
- #47
The main issue here is that people can only speak of their situation - and treat it as if that's the only way to look at it.@Lucan Unlordly
I hear you but i still kind of feel you are judging my decision that "I completely trust my wife" as kind of a slur against my better judgement based on your reckless own moral compass. Sorry.
I have a rock solid marriage, my wife is my best friend, mother to my two children and we are inseparable. We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary next year. I have no interest in cheating on her, too busy, neither does she.
And anyhow, she's not a fan of Greece or interested in becoming the next "Shirley Valentine"
Take care
The divorce rate in the U.K is estimated at 42%. A lot of people do wake up to their partners / husbands / wife's running off with someone else, or falling out of love with them. I am sure a large percentage of those didn't think that it would happen either. So i don't think its necessarily a slur on your judgement, more a look at the facts, and the potential risks that come with it.
Congrats on your impending silver wedding anniversary - you are one of a few that reach that milestone nowadays sadly.
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- Original Poster
- #48
Noted on both parts. Solicitors are a different breed of people. I come from a corporate background and have been astounded at the lack of relationship management that some solicitors show. Saying that some of those people are phenomenal legal experts that i would 100% want representing me, despite their inability to strike general conversation and build any kind of meaningful rapport. I like that i work for a Firm where relationship comes first.
On the cost front i struggle to understand why solicitors do not offer a fixed fee service for general work such as Wills and LPA's. In fact one of the biggest barriers to a customer using a proffesional service is transparency over cost. Our Firm has always offered fixed fee services.
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One purpose of this forum is to inform readers who may or may not have contributed.@Lucan Unlordly
I hear you but i still kind of feel you are judging my decision that "I completely trust my wife" as kind of a slur against my better judgement based on your reckless own moral compass. Sorry.
I have a rock solid marriage, my wife is my best friend, mother to my two children and we are inseparable. We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary next year. I have no interest in cheating on her, too busy, neither does she.
And anyhow, she's not a fan of Greece or interested in becoming the next "Shirley Valentine"
Take care
However.........
What you take as a slur would be better considered with a little more information.
My mate had been married for a lot longer than you. His missus wasn't some flighty looker, but a rounded cuddly simple and quietly spoken mum. The bar owner was no Valentino! Two of the children were in their early teens, yet completely out of character and coming as a shock to her entire family, all who knew her at work and socially, and of course her husband, she flew the nest leaving everyone behind her.
Whilst extreme, I'll wager that everybody knows someone who's actions came as a surprise.
The world is littered with broken marriages as a result of infidelity and whilst, like you I trust my wife implicitly it formed no part of the multiple reasons why we made a will. We live in the real world not one of fantasy.
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IMHO anyone with any worth should make a will.
It's not a question of whether wifey will abscond with the gardener or whether you trust her to do the right thing by the children. Can you predict her state of mind after your sudden and perhaps unexpected demise? Why burden her with the complexities - and perhaps unwelcome legalities, of dying intestate?
For anyone making a will I strongly recommend NOT appointing a solicitor, (or worse, a bank), as executor. Not unless you want to risk an expensive, long-drawn-out, totally incompetent service (can you tell I've been through this process?).
Name a trusted partner, relative, friend or colleague as executor and tell them to appoint a solicitor or whoever to do the admin/legwork. If the solicitor is executor they can't be sacked because their client is dead, so they can do/charge pretty much what they like. If they are appointed, they can't.
Just my tuppence worth.
It's not a question of whether wifey will abscond with the gardener or whether you trust her to do the right thing by the children. Can you predict her state of mind after your sudden and perhaps unexpected demise? Why burden her with the complexities - and perhaps unwelcome legalities, of dying intestate?
For anyone making a will I strongly recommend NOT appointing a solicitor, (or worse, a bank), as executor. Not unless you want to risk an expensive, long-drawn-out, totally incompetent service (can you tell I've been through this process?).
Name a trusted partner, relative, friend or colleague as executor and tell them to appoint a solicitor or whoever to do the admin/legwork. If the solicitor is executor they can't be sacked because their client is dead, so they can do/charge pretty much what they like. If they are appointed, they can't.
Just my tuppence worth.
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- Original Poster
- #51
Sensible advice. We find a lot of people appoint a family member or a friend to be the executor. In my instance i have appointed my cousin. We also find that a lot of people don't actually tell their family member or friend that they have appointed them as said executor! We recommend that you do this so that there is not utter shock when they are asked to act upon your wishes / to deal with emotional and potentially difficult beneficiaries.
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I think that a most people don't like to think of their own mortality. Most people I speak to see the need to make a Will but kick it into the long grass. If you die without a Will, people are often surprised when they realise how their estate passes. I tell clients, just because you make a Will it doesn't mean you are going to die any sooner!
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That's interesting (definitely never use a bank imo)
I would have though that, barring a few rogue solicitors, you'd have some legal protection using a professional to oversee everything? Especially if you have property/businesses/investments etc.
I've seen lots of families have big issues within the family after someone dies. Jealousy, accusations of theft, people hiding expensive items from siblings etc. Someone I know is currently in the midst of legal action against a family member regarding missing documents and expensive jewellery.
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Not sure that’s true. Whilst a solicitor may assist in preparing the document you are responsible to checking the wording. If the solicitor makes a mistake you can report them but it’s your signature on the will not theirs.
Maybe @Mike-Smith can clarify.
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The point is to not appoint a solicitor at the time of drafting the will. If you do, you are stuck with them and whatever they want to charge. Appoint family members. They can then appoint a solicitor of their choice when the time comes.
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Because the Solicitor's client is dead by the time they take up their role, so there is no-one to instruct them. Appoint a trusted family member or friend who, if necessary, can appoint a solicitor to act for THEM in carrying out the complicated stuff.
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On the plus side the Solicitors independence could cut through the infighting left behind?
In our position we found it difficult to nominate executors - I need to check our Will to see how we ended up - too old, too young, unlikely to want the stress or simply too far removed.
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I've never heard of that. It just sounds like a nightmare in waiting. Having family members draft someones will, that's not going to go well for many families is it? An ancient old aunt is going to come crawling out from somewhere and accuse someone of fiddling.
Our wills have all been drafted and prepared by a solicitor, in accordance with UK law. It worked well 2 years ago, when a grand parent died, the solicitor handled everything for a fixed fee and any issues around loans/car finance were resolved promptly.
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This is nothing to do with drafting a will. Use a solicitor or write it yourself, whatever works. It ia about appointing the executor. The person who has sole responsibility for trying to ensure the will is carried out. DO not appoint a solicitor.
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The executor is appointed in the will. The heirs cannot change that. The executor can appoint a solicitor, who the executor 'controls'.That's exactly what I said a few post ago
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- Original Poster
- #72
Just back from a nice half term holiday with the kids and my wife. Catching up on all the comments.
So re. appointing a solicitor as the executor - this is surprisingly common. People don't want to put the burden of being an executor on to loved ones and / or friends. Solicitors have to follow a code of conduct (as per the SRA) so 'charging whatever they want' isn't really possible as they could and would put themselves in the firing line for regulators. Usually a flat fee, hourly rate or a % of the estate will be the fee. The latter is where a lot of money has been made in the past by Firms that specialise in this sort of stuff. So its not a case of don't appoint a solicitor as the executor, its more a case of are you happy to have your estate cover the bill (with the added comfort that the solicitor will deal with all the painful stuff rather than loved ones). Again this is very much down to the person and their situation. I wouldn't pay a solicitor to be an executor. My cousin is a solicitor and isn't going to charge a fee haha.
So re. appointing a solicitor as the executor - this is surprisingly common. People don't want to put the burden of being an executor on to loved ones and / or friends. Solicitors have to follow a code of conduct (as per the SRA) so 'charging whatever they want' isn't really possible as they could and would put themselves in the firing line for regulators. Usually a flat fee, hourly rate or a % of the estate will be the fee. The latter is where a lot of money has been made in the past by Firms that specialise in this sort of stuff. So its not a case of don't appoint a solicitor as the executor, its more a case of are you happy to have your estate cover the bill (with the added comfort that the solicitor will deal with all the painful stuff rather than loved ones). Again this is very much down to the person and their situation. I wouldn't pay a solicitor to be an executor. My cousin is a solicitor and isn't going to charge a fee haha.
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i can't speak for the 60% i can only speak for myself, i don't have a will because i don't have much worth handing down. if i were filthy rich i would probably make a will, and some of the main deterrents in that case would be fees and taxes and the effort of maintaining it as accurate and up-to-date. so a good advertisement could target me by making it clear how easy it is to set up and maintain, with great clarity on costing and procedures.
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Personally I would recommend people talk to an estate planner, who will listen to what you wish to do in a will, but pose a few other questions that most will not have considered, which could drastically alter the way a will is eventually written.
The old saying you don’t know what you don’t know comes to mind.
The old saying you don’t know what you don’t know comes to mind.
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Literally a few months ago a friends next door neighbour won a significant sum on the Lottery. The last thing on his mind was a Will. He died 2 weeks later leaving his live in partner potless & potentially homeless and his estranged family to share the spoils.
A few words on a bit of paper would have saved the day.
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He is far from unique.
Rik Mayall had no will, cost his family £60k in extra taxes. As for Bob Marley, all his kids and family are still arguing all these years later.
I took years to get a will written, and since then have made several important changes to ensure my two daughters will at least get the chance to squander some money.
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Remember that a Will is not just about ensuring that your assets are distributed how you want. It is also about ensuring that your wishes are carried out regarding your funeral arrangements, medical care, and the custody of your children. If you do not have a Will, the courts will make these decisions, which may not align with your wishes.
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