You can buy a Will template online for very little money.
You can even find free examples.
So why pay somebody to help prepare a Will?
It is a perfectly reasonable question.
For someone with an extremely straightforward estate who understands the legal requirements and completes everything correctly, a DIY Will may work.
The difficulty is that you often don’t discover a mistake until after the person who made the Will has died.
At that point, they cannot explain what they intended.
At Your Will Writers, I help people in Perton and the surrounding Wolverhampton area make Wills that clearly reflect their circumstances and wishes.
Here are some of the potential problems with doing everything yourself.
A Will Must Be Valid
Writing your wishes on a piece of paper does not automatically create a valid Will.
There are formal requirements surrounding how a Will is made and executed.
If those requirements aren’t met, the Will may be invalid.
That could mean your estate is dealt with under an earlier valid Will or, if there isn’t one, under the intestacy rules.
Signing Matters
The execution of a Will is extremely important.
A beautifully written Will can still create major problems if it is not signed and witnessed correctly.
People sometimes:
- Use unsuitable witnesses
- Sign in the wrong way
- Fail to complete witnessing properly
- Add changes afterwards
- Misunderstand who needs to be present
These mistakes can potentially affect validity or create disputes.
A Beneficiary Shouldn’t Simply Witness the Will
Witness choice matters.
If somebody who is due to benefit under the Will acts as a witness, this can cause serious consequences for that gift.
The Will itself may not necessarily become entirely invalid, but the beneficiary’s entitlement can be affected.
This is exactly the kind of technical issue someone completing a DIY Will may not appreciate.
Legal Words Have Specific Meanings
You might write:
“I leave everything to my children.”
That sounds straightforward.
But what exactly do you mean?
Does that include adopted children?
What about stepchildren?
What if one child dies before you?
Should their children inherit their share?
What happens if all your children die before you?
Legal drafting tries to answer questions before they become problems.
What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies First?
A good Will should consider alternative outcomes.
Suppose you leave everything equally between your two children.
One dies before you.
What happens to their half?
Should it pass to:
- Their children?
- Your surviving child?
- Someone else?
If the drafting does not deal properly with alternative scenarios, the result may not match what you wanted.
DIY Wills and Property
Property creates another layer of complexity.
You need to understand how your home is owned.
If you own jointly with somebody else, there is an important difference between:
- Joint tenants
- Tenants in common
Your Will may say one thing while the legal ownership structure produces another result.
For example, an interest held under a beneficial joint tenancy normally passes automatically to the surviving joint owner rather than under the Will.
DIY Wills and Unmarried Couples
Unmarried couples need particularly careful planning.
A common-law partner does not simply acquire the same intestacy rights as a husband, wife or civil partner because you have lived together for many years.
Your Will may need to consider:
- Property
- Your partner
- Children
- Stepchildren
- Life insurance
- Alternative beneficiaries
A generic online template may not explore any of those issues with you.
DIY Wills and Blended Families
Blended families can make apparently simple Wills surprisingly complicated.
Imagine you have children from your first marriage and a new spouse.
You want your new spouse looked after.
But you also want to guarantee, as far as appropriate planning allows, that your children eventually inherit.
Leaving everything outright to the new spouse may not achieve the second objective.
Trust planning might need consideration.
DIY Wills and Guardians
Parents with children under 18 should think about guardianship.
Who would you want to look after your children if the appropriate circumstances arose?
Is the appointment worded correctly?
Have you discussed it with the intended guardians?
What happens if your first-choice guardian cannot act?
A generic form cannot have that conversation with you.
DIY Wills and Trusts
Trusts are an area where professional guidance becomes particularly valuable.
You may be considering:
- Property Protection Trusts
- Trusts for young beneficiaries
- Vulnerable beneficiary arrangements
- Life-interest arrangements
Trusts create legal responsibilities.
The wording matters.
The trustees matter.
The tax consequences can matter.
This is not an area where copying a paragraph found online is advisable.
Ambiguous Wording Can Cause Arguments
You know exactly what you mean when you write:
“My jewellery goes to Sarah.”
But which Sarah?
What counts as jewellery?
What if Sarah dies first?
What happens to items acquired after the Will?
Professional drafting aims to remove ambiguity.
The fewer questions a Will leaves behind, the better.
What If You Make Changes Later?
One particularly dangerous DIY habit is manually altering a signed Will.
People sometimes:
- Cross out a beneficiary
- Add another name
- Change an amount
- Write notes in the margin
- Attach another piece of paper
This can create uncertainty and potentially affect how parts of the Will operate.
If your wishes change, update the Will properly.
A Cheap Will Can Become Expensive Later
This is the irony.
Saving money when making a Will can potentially result in considerably greater costs after death if beneficiaries need legal advice to resolve:
- Ambiguous wording
- Validity questions
- Family disputes
- Property issues
- Poorly drafted trusts
The person who made the Will is no longer available to explain.
That makes clarity particularly valuable.
Does Everyone Need a Complicated Will?
Absolutely not.
Many clients need a straightforward Will.
Professional advice should not be about making simple arrangements unnecessarily complicated.
Quite the opposite.
The objective is to identify what you actually need.
If a straightforward Will is appropriate, keep it straightforward.
What Are You Really Paying a Will Writer For?
You are not simply paying for somebody to type a document.
The value is in the conversation beforehand.
A good Will appointment should explore:
- Your family
- Your relationship
- Your children
- Your property
- Your beneficiaries
- Your executors
- Guardians
- Existing Wills
- Whether trusts are appropriate
- What happens if beneficiaries die before you
The finished Will is the result of that discussion.
Will Writing in Perton
Your Will Writers provides a personal will-writing service for clients in Perton, Wolverhampton, Codsall, Tettenhall, Wombourne and Brewood.
With many years of experience across will writing, estate planning and financial services, my approach is to keep things understandable.
You don’t need to know what clauses your Will requires before the appointment.
You simply need to know what you want to achieve.
We can work through the rest together.
Flexible Local Appointments
Not everybody wants to visit a formal solicitor’s office.
That’s why appointments can be arranged flexibly.
I can meet clients at their home, at my home office in nearby Codsall, or at another local place where they feel comfortable.
Will writing should feel like a sensible conversation about your family and wishes rather than an intimidating legal exercise.
When Might a DIY Will Be Particularly Risky?
I would be especially cautious about relying on a basic template if you:
- Own property
- Have children under 18
- Are unmarried
- Have stepchildren
- Have children from different relationships
- Have remarried
- Want to exclude somebody who might expect to inherit
- Want a trust
- Have a vulnerable beneficiary
- Own a business
- Have unusual family circumstances
These situations can require more careful planning.
Your Family Has to Live With the Document
When you make your Will, you sign it and put it away.
The people who really need to understand it are often the people dealing with your affairs after you have gone.
A good Will should make their job easier.
It should clearly explain who is responsible for administering the estate and who should benefit.
There should be as little uncertainty as reasonably possible.
A Will Is More Than a Form
A Will might only be a few pages long.
But those pages may determine what happens to everything you have accumulated during your lifetime.
Your home.
Your savings.
Your possessions.
Your business interests.
And, importantly, arrangements affecting the people you care about.
So before downloading the cheapest template you can find, ask yourself a different question.
Not:
“How cheaply can I make a Will?”
But:
“How confident am I that this Will will actually do what I want when my family needs it?”
If you’re in Perton or the wider Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire area, Your Will Writers can help you answer that question and put appropriate arrangements in place.
This article provides general information only and should not be treated as individual legal advice.