Thinking you don’t need a Will

How many times have we heard people say things like ‘I don’t need a Will, my wife will just get everything’ or ‘I don’t need a Will, I don’t have any money’?  Every person over the age of 18 should have a Will, no matter what the value of their estate is.  Failing to make plans for your estate can cause a number of issues for your loved ones when you die.

Yes, it is true that your spouse or civil partner is first in line in the laws of intestacy to inherit your assets, however, it is not always as simple as that.  If you have no children together, your spouse or civil partner would inherit your estate.  However, if you have children, this is where it gets a little bit more complicated.  Your spouse or civil partner would receive the first £322,000, all personal possessions and half of the remainder of your estate and your children would share the other half.  This could cause a number of issues, one of them being you may not wish for your children to receive their inheritance at age 18 (which they would under intestacy rules) as it might not be in their best interests to do so.