What if I die without a will?

Creating a last will and testament ensures peace of mind and the ability to set out your wishes. If you die before making a will, then the Intestacy Rules will dictate which of your relatives receives your property – this might not be what you or your loved ones want.

In some cases, this creates a disaster, which you could easily have avoided by simply making a Will.

If you are unmarried, your partner will not receive anything under the Intestacy Rules. If you have re-married, then sometimes your children will receive nothing under the Intestacy Rules, unless you have a fairly substantial estate.

In either case, a simple will would protect them from this harsh result. For more details on this, see our blog articles on why you should make a Will, part 1  and part 2.

Should I get a living will instead?

By a “living will” we mean a lasting power of attorney. A living will should not be confused with a will (or last will and testament). Your living will would set out what your wishes are concerning (a) your medical treatment, and/or (b) the management of your finances and other property, while you are alive in the event that you lose mental capacity to make your own decisions on your health or property. A living will does not deal with what happens to your property on your death, nor would it deal with appointing a guardian for any of your children who are under age 18 at the date of your death.

Therefore you still need a will.

Can I create valid wills with a template from Legalo?

“Yes”, in short.

All of our templates enable you to create valid legal contracts or wills, and all without your needing to involve a solicitor at any stage of the process.

You just need to follow the helpful guide that comes with your template in order to finalise your document. With wills you need to take particular care over how you sign it and have it witnessed. The guides that come with each will template cover all of this for you, so just follow those instructions.

Our wills templates are all valid for use if you live anywhere in the UK – Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

What if I just want to update my existing will?

If you already have a will and wish to make a minor amendment, then use a Codicil to update it. This saves your making a completely new will. We have 3 different codicil templates ready for you to use:

• General Codicil – you can update any part of your will with this one;
• Codicil to change one or more Executors; or
• Codicil to leave a gift to a charity.

This article explains more about when to use a codicil or when it is better to redo your will completely: How to Change a Will.

What if I want to leave a letter of wishes?

While a letter of wishes is not binding on your executors, it is helpful if you want to add details that you did not put in your will. Find out more about a letter of wishes here.

If you want to read more about wills, then have a look at Wikipedia.