Why Writing a will is really important

It means you can decide what happens after you’re gone and make sure your loved ones are taken care of. Making a Will doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive and gives you peace of mind that everything is in order. 

If you don’t make a Will, the government will decide what happens to your money and assets. This can cause arguments or disputes, and might even mean family members miss out. Not having a Will can cause extra stress and expense for your loved ones. By making a Will, you can make an upsetting time, a little easier. 

It’s easy to put off making a Will but it’s one of those jobs we should all do. As well as making sure your loved ones are taken care of, many people also decide to leave a gift to charity, so the support for the causes they care about lives on as their legacy. 

Residuary Gift

This gift is a share of your estate, 10% for example. This type of gift is the most beneficial as the value is inflation proof. 

For example, many people like to leave 10% to a charity of their choice.  

Pecuniary Gift

This is a fixed amount of money.  Perhaps you’d like to leave your grandchildren a university fund or the deposit for their first house? Or maybe you’re thinking about leaving a fixed cash sum like £1,000 to charity.   

These gifts will be affected by inflation this may mean their value is less than you intended when you made your Will. Reviewing your Will regularly or linking with inflation can help protect your cash gift. 

Specific Gift

A Specific Gift is when you leave specific items as a gift, like jewellery. This is great if you have special items you want to leave to specific people and can also save arguments later! You can also leave things like property, shares or even land, to a loved one of a charity of your choice.