Basic Will

What is a Will?

A Will is a list of instructions telling your Executors what to do with your property when you die. By making a Will you can ensure that you leave your property, money and other assets to the people you choose.

A Will is one of the most important legal documents that you will sign. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland anyone aged 18 or over can make a Will. In Scotland, anyone over 12 can do so.

The legal terminology used in professionally drafted Wills can make them difficult to understand. However, all Wills have a broadly similar structure consisting of a series of clauses - as seen below. The more complicated your instructions, the more clauses are needed and the more expensive the Will becomes.

Should you require a Trust to be set up on your death, your Will can include a provision for this, but again this will cost more.

Therefore a Will can be tailor-made to your requirements by adding relevant and suitable clauses and perhaps a Trust.  The starting point is a Basic Will.

Basic Will

This includes clauses that:

• revokes any previous Will
• states your funeral preferences, if any
• states your wishes, if any, for organ donation
• appoints your Executors 
• specifies to whom you are leaving the "residue" of your estate (ie what remains after paying any specific bequests, debts, taxes and expenses).
• the naming of Guardians for children under 18
• Children's Trusts (for children under 18 to inherit between the ages of 18 and 25)
• any specific bequests (items or money)
• any other special instructions, for example an Exclusion Clause (which makes clear your intentions to exclude a named person from the Will - see Other Products)

More complicated and thus more expensive Wills can include one or more of the following:

• A Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trust (to save Inheritance Tax)
• A Property Protection Trust (can prevent the loss of all or part of your home to pay care fees in certain circumstances)
• A Discretionary Trust (to defer the decision about inheritance until a later date)
• A Disabled Discretionary Trust (prevents disabled beneficiaries losing state benefits)
• Life Interest of Residue Trust (a person receives the income from your estate until they die, when your estate passes to other named beneficiaries)  

Further information on Children's Trusts, Discretionary Trusts, Disabled Discretionary Trusts and Life Interest of Residue Trusts can be found on our Other Products page.