You know you should have a Will and you know they are important, but why exactly?
The Last Will and Testament is one of the most important documents that we can make - they help us to make our wishes clear, sometimes about really difficult issues, when we are not there to explain them ourselves. They can save lots of legal problems, heartache and family issues at what can be such a terrible time.
But what are the most important reasons why you need a Will if you don't have one?
Should something happen to your partner and you and you don’t have a Will in place, or a Will that doesn’t cover your children, they won’t automatically get looked after by the person you want them to. It could cause a distressing argument within your family and the guardians will be decided by a court of law.
The law doesn’t protect step-children in the same way as biological children, they won’t get anything if you don’t have a Will. So you need to explicitly include them in your Will if you want to provide for them should something happen to you.
This is the same for Foster children and other dependents.
Having a Will in place allows you to decide who your estate is gifted to. However more importantly, it can make it clear and legally-binding who you DON’T want to give gifts to. Ultimately it gives you control over what happens to all of your assets.
A Will means that you can decide who manages your wishes. The legal term is called an Executor and they will make sure that the wishes contained in your Will and communicated and acted on.
