Recent reports of a high street bank being unaware of thousands of Wills that they had in their safe storage, highlight the importance of keeping your Will under review and letting your close family, and anyone you are appointing as an executor, know its whereabouts.
There's a chance that many of those Wills may well be for people who've already passed away. The risk is that executors may have administered estates based on earlier Wills incorrectly, and incorrect beneficiaries may have been paid out from the estate. Even more worrying, and a situation which will no doubt give rise to claims, may be that correct beneficiaries under later Wills may have missed receiving their inheritances.
It's not only good planning to take the all-important step to have a Will prepared but perhaps more crucial is to ensure that it's kept up-to-date – and that the executors and/or your family are aware of its location. As there's no compulsory system for registration of Wills in this country, the only way they can be located after death is by searching any Will registries, through the deceased’s papers or by ensuring those closest to you know of their existence.
As many people make more than one Will during their lifetime, it's vital that those dealing with those Wills after death, as executors, know they're dealing with the most up-to-date Will made by the deceased.
It's also very important to review your Will if any of the following occur:
- You get married or enter a civil partnership
- You get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership
- You have children
- Your assets increase in value
- Your executor passes away or becomes unable, unwilling or unsuitable to act
- Any of your beneficiaries pass away or become incapable of managing their own affairs
- You change your name or anyone in the Will changes theirs
- You wish to revoke or amend anything in your Will
- You acquire assets in a foreign country, move abroad or make or amend a foreign Will.
Reviewing your Will is easy to arrange via a number of channels, including online, via the post, over the telephone or face-to-face appointments. Our professional advisers should be able to tell you what you might need to consider as a result of your change in circumstances and either arrange this for you, or confirm that nothing is required at present. It's better to undertake this review than to have a Will that's potentially out of date or even invalid when it comes to the time for it to be administered.
Published: November 2019
A monthly briefing from Irwin Mitchell
November 2019
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