Will writing experts in Wolverhampton / Dudley

Guardian Wills Ltd in Wolverhampton / Dudley can provide you with all the information you require regarding wills, and can create a valid will to ensure your estate is distributed in accordance with your wishes. We cover Dudley, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall, Worcester, Shropshire, Birmingham and the surrounding areas.

Why should I make a will?

So that you choose who deals with your estate.
So that your estate goes to the person/charity of your choice in the way that you want.
So that you can name the guardians of children under the age of 18.
To ensure that you protect the value of your property and savings from avoidable payment of inheritance tax or care fees.
To provide for mentally or physically disabled beneficiaries without affecting their income-related benefits.
To provide extra benefits over and above statutory powers for minor beneficiaries.
To provide for beneficiaries in a vulnerable position i.e. facing divorce or bankruptcy.
To provide for children from a previous marriage.
To provide for unmarried partners.

What happens if I die without making a will?

Can I make my own will?

In England and Wales you are allowed to write your own will. However, this could result in your intended beneficiaries not receiving what you hoped. Wording you may use within your will may fall foul of a legal rule or principle and cause your will to be misunderstood or made invalid.

What different types of wills are available?

Discretionary trust will

Key benefits:

Protects entitlement for state benefits for mentally or physically disabled beneficiaries and can ensure their money is controlled for them (if required) by people you trust.
Can provide for beneficiaries going through a divorce or bankruptcy without assets disappearing to divorcing partners or creditors.

Inheritance tax wills

The current threshold above which IHT is payable is £325,000 (plus the possibility of a main residence allowance with certain restrictions) (2019/2020). Spouses or civil partners are able to transfer any unused portion of their allowance to their partner to use on their death. Unmarried partners do not benefit from this transferable allowance and careful planning through will trusts is therefore essential. There is also a wealth of advice that we can offer in relation to planning for IHT during your lifetime.

Property trust and life interest trust wills

Please see our ‘Protecting your Assets’ section below. Please see ‘Care Home Fees Planning’ information.

Business Wills

Trusts can be designed to ensure the best way to protect a business in the event of the death of the owner, both to maximise IHT savings and to ensure smooth continuity.

Protecting your assets

Will trusts - protecting your home

Most people who co-own their home with another person do so as joint owners, meaning that they both own the whole property. On the death of a joint owner, the home automatically becomes the sole property of the survivor, who can then do what they want with it. However this can cause problems:

If the survivor remarries, it is possible that the whole of the house will then pass to their new spouse on their death, thus disinheriting the children of the first marriage.
If the survivor has to go into a nursing or residential home, as a sole owner of the property, the local authority has powers to charge the cost of care against the value of the whole house, again disinheriting the children.

The answer to all these problems is to change the way the home is owned from joint owners to tenants in common – a straightforward process that doesn’t involve the mortgage company even if the property is mortgaged.

As tenants in common each owner owns one half of the property and, using a Will, can do whatever they wish with their share of the property on their death, including:

Leaving it to their own children so that if the surviving spouse remarries, they will only own their own half of the property and can only give their own share to their new spouse.
Leaving it to their own children so that if the surviving spouse needs care, the local authority can only charge the cost of the care against the half of the house that the survivor owns – ensuring in either case that their children inherit at least half of the value of their home.

We do, however, recommend that in the above situations provisions are also made in the will, through a will trust to delay the gift and prevent the surviving spouse being forced out of the home, and also to ensure that the surviving spouse can have access to the capital and/or income if the house is sold. This type of trust is called a life interest trust and is sometimes marketed as a property protection trust.

Protecting your savings etc

The trusts referred to above can also be used to protect savings, etc, from loss in the event of remarriage or the need to fund care fees. This type of trust is also called a life interest trust, but is sometimes marketed as a flexible life interest trust.

Please note that these arrangements only apply to couples who are drafting wills. They are not effective for single people. It is therefore essential to plan early. An alternative for single people or couples is to plan for these eventualities during their lifetime instead of on their death via a family protection trust.