When Should You Make A Will?

In the UK, you can make a Will when you turn 18. Making a Will as soon as possible offers peace of mind and reduces legal challenges and tax liabilities.

When Can You Start Writing Your Will?

According to UK law, you can make a Will as soon as you turn 18.

At What Age Should You Make A Will?

While a lot of people put off making a Will until later in life, there are strong arguments for drafting one as soon as possible.

Why Should I Make A Will As Soon As I Can?

Peace of mind

Should you die without making a Will, the law will determine what happens to your assets – this might not be in line with your wishes.

For example, if you and your partner are not married and haven’t registered a civil partnership, you cannot inherit from one another without a Will.

The surviving partner may suffer financial hardship as a result.

Reducing tax liabilities

Depending on the size of your estate, it may be necessary to pay inheritance tax before your assets can be distributed to your beneficiaries.

A legal expert, however, will be able to help you draw up a Will that minimises your tax obligations providing you with reassurance that in the event of your death, as much of your estate as possible will be passed on to those you have named.

By delaying the drafting of your Will, you increase the likelihood of the value of your estate being diminished more than necessary by tax payments.

Avoiding legal challenges

Dying without having made a Will could increase the chances of a legal challenge over the distribution of your estate by a relative or friend who believes they have not received their rightful share of your assets.

The resulting court case could be extremely stressful for your loved ones while legal fees could erode the amount that is ultimately distributed.

Having a Will drafted to rigorous standards by a solicitor can act as a strong deterrent to anyone contemplating such a challenge as it makes clear exactly what your wishes were.

The sooner you write your Will, therefore, the sooner you have this reassurance that your friends and family should not suffer additional anxiety at a time when they are grieving your loss.

Future-proof

Young adults may feel there is little point drawing up a Will because, by the time of their death, their circumstances are likely to have changed considerably, with events such as marriage, divorce and the birth of children all potentially affecting the way they wish their estate to be distributed.

This is not, though, a reason to delay as Wilson Browne Solicitors can future-proof your Will so that it takes account of potential future developments. You can always amend your Will in the future with a Codicil, if there are any specific changes that you would like to make.

By doing so, we give you the best of both worlds – the reassurance that you have put a plan in place while knowing this can automatically adapt to meet your evolving needs.

As an additional safeguard, we are also happy to offer our clients free Will health checks at periodic intervals to ensure the document remains fit for purpose in terms of your own priorities and any changes in legislation that may have occurred.

Safe storage

Given the importance of your Will, a practical consideration is the requirement for it to be stored safely until it’s needed.

If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you may feel that drawing up the document now will leave you with the responsibility of keeping it safe for several decades or the expense of paying someone else to do so.

At Wilson Browne Solicitors we offer our clients a free storage facility for Wills so that you have the peace of mind of having both made a Will and ensured that it will be readily available to your loved ones.

Is It Ever Too Early To Make A Will?

You must be 18 or over to make a Will.

Expert Advice On Writing Your Will From Wilson Browne Solicitors

Our dedicated team of Will writing solicitors will be delighted to use their experience and expertise to draw up a Will that safeguards the future financial security of your loved ones.

We work to the highest standards of confidentiality, integrity and professionalism, and with offices in Corby, Higham Ferrers and Rushden, Kettering, Leicester, Northampton and Wellingborough can offer you a friendly face-to-face meeting at a convenient location.

Our first chat is free, and we will always be transparent about future costs.

For more information, please get in touch by calling 0800 088 6004 or completing our online contact form.