FAQs - General

You must be over 18 at the time you are making a Will, and you must not be suffering from any mental disorder that effects your ability to make a will. You must also have the relevant ‘testamentary capacity’- this is the mental capacity to understand all of the following:

• The nature and effect of making a will
• The size and nature of your estate (what you own)
• Any moral claims that you ought to give effect to i.e. the claims that any family members may have on your estate.  

There are many reasons why someone might wish to change their Will, some examples are: 

• Change in your family (e.g. new children)
• Change in circumstances, intentions, beneficiaries
• Change in your appointed Executors, Trustees, Guardians etc

Marriage or Civil Partnership also automatically revokes a Will. You are free to change or revoke your will as long as you have ‘testamentary capacity’. The IPW recommend you regularly review your Will and its arrangements. You may need to re-write your Will completely. If so, you will need help and advice from a Professional Will Writer, such as an IPW member.

Your Will needs to appoint persons who are ‘Executors’. These are people you have nominated, who have the responsibility to deal with, and distribute your estate, after you have died. They are effectively ‘Estate Administrators’, and can be lay persons, or professionals. They musty have the requisite mental capacity to act at the time they are needed, and must be over age 18.

Executors will need to (including many other tasks):

• Locate and value all of your assets, capital, liabilities
• Pay for any outstanding debts and taxes (e.g Inheritance Tax if it is due)
• Pay for Funeral expenses
• Obtain Probate where needed
• Distribute your estate to the beneficiaries you have specified in your Will

You need a minimum of 1 Executor and it is sensible to have at least 2. You can name additional people (and/or professional Estate Administrators) to act as reserve executors instead. You can name as many as you like but only 4 can act at the same time.

Often the job of Executorship is not a simple task, so you may need to  appoint Professional Executors. Your Willwriter will provide advice in this respect.    

Because Will Writing is not a ‘reserved’ legal activity, you do not have to use a Solicitor to make your Will. Instead, you have a number of choices:

1) Use a Professional Willwriter

Using an IPW member means you will be engaging a person who is professionally qualified, proficient and keeps their knowledge and proficiency up to date. They also work to a strict Code of Practice approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. IPW members all have a minimum of £2m Professional Indeminity insurance.

Many will offer a face-to-face service in your home (or via media such as Zoom) and will take utmost care to ensure you are given the most professional service.

2) Use a Solicitor

Solicitors are legally qualified, and are regulated by the SRA (the Solicitors Regulation Authority). They are required to keep their knowledge up to date. The Practice they work for will have Professional Indemnity insurance. Many solicitors deal with a large variety of issues in their workload, and Will Writing may be one of those tasks.

You may need to make an appointment to see them in their office.

3) Try to draft your Will yourself

This is a very high-risk approach as trying to do this yourself (even using a published or internet-based Will kit) may mean the documents may not be valid or constructed properly, or have the correct wording, power etc to achieve your desired effect. The risks of a Will not being valid or correct could be disastrous for those left behind. Consequently, the IPW recommend you use an IPW member, and get things done properly.

Trustees have a legal responsibility (they are entrusted) with looking after assets/ monies etc to give to, or use for the benefit of, beneficiaries specified by a Will, or a Trust in a Will.

Often Trustees are also Executors, although you can appoint separate Trustees in your Will, if you wish.  Trustees will manage any ongoing Trusts that are created by your will,  once your Executors have  completed the administration

If you have minor children (under age 18) and there is nobody with automatic Parental Responsibility for them (e.g. surviving parent) then social services will decide where to place your children. To avoid this you will need to appoint Guardians for your children. This means:

• Guardians are appointed to take on the care of your children who are under 18, till they reach the age of 18.
• It is wise to carefully consider who you would want to appoint, as the main things to consider are your proposed guardians’ own situation and experience with children, and their willingness to take on the responsibility if ever needed.
• You will also need to consider your children’s relationship with them, their geographical location, and any financial provision you might wish to make

Guardians can be Executors and Trustees (e.g trustees of funds on the children’s behalf) where needed.