The simple fact is that everyone who is over the age of 18 in the U.K should have a will.
Your will says what happens to all your money, property and possessions when you’re not here. Without one, the law decides who gets what and how much. A will ensures that your loved ones are protected and is the only way to guarantee your wishes are followed.
It’s a common misconception that you need to own property or be married with kids to have a will!
Lots of us have different apps and accounts where our money is held without a paper trail. Without a will, it is nearly impossible for your family to know where these are. By creating a will you can state where your money is, and who it goes to. Your will is also a helpful place to state any funeral wishes and anything you would want your loved ones to know.
If you do go on to buy a house or get married it’s also much easier to edit a previous will than to start one from scratch!
Your estate is made up of everything you own – this includes property, cars, and any cash in the bank, stocks, ISA’s and anywhere else your money is kept. In your will you can decide who receives this through three different types of gifts.
Your estate is made up of everything you own including your property, cars, and any cash in banks and stocks etc. In your will you can decide who receives this through three different types of gifts.
- A pecuniary gift – You can give a specific sum of money to a person, organisation or charity e.g. £10 to your neighbour, or £1,000 to your favourite charity.
- A specific item - You can designate who receives specific items in your will. e.g. if you want to ensure your wedding ring goes to a certain member of your family.
- A residuary gift-You can give a percentage of what is left of your estate which is basically everything else you own after all debts, bills, taxes and any of the other 2 kinds of gifts have been given.
You can leave a gift in your will, or give a % or all of your estate to anyone, they do not need to be a relative or part of your family. You can also leave a % of your estate or a sum of money to an organisation or charity. There is no limit on how many people or charities you can include in your will and you can give different types of gifts to different people
Writing a will online is completely safe and secure and 100% legally binding. Each will is checked by Guardian Angel's in house legal experts who will let you know if there are any problems. Everything you share in your will is completely confidential and to make sure your will is secure Guardian Angels even use bank level-identity verification to protect your will from any future challenges.
Anyone who is listed as a beneficiary in your will that is not your spouse will have to pay 40% inheritance tax to the state above a certain threshold (The threshold is dependent on the beneficiary relation to you.) If you however leave 10% or more of your net estate to a registered U.K charity this decreases to 36%. By doing this you will only slightly decrease the amount your loved ones will receive but greatly reduce the inheritance tax they will have to pay, all whilst supporting a charity close to your heart. For more information on this check out the government’s guidelines on inheritance tax >