Reviewing Your Will for the New Year


Reviewing Your Will for the New Year

 

The New Year is always a good time to reflect and look ahead on what you want to achieve this year, as well as looking back on the previous year and what you wish you had done.

 

With this in mind it may well be worth taking the time to review the Will you made in the past or to finally stopping putting off writing one in the first place.

 

It is always worth regularly checking your existing Will to make sure it still meets with your wishes, as the years pass by circumstances can change meaning your Will no longer matches your wishes and should be updated to do so.

 

Some of the most common reasons for reviewing your Will are listed below:

 

Change in Law

 

The Law in respect of Wills, most notably regarding Inheritance Tax, has changed significantly over the last few years. Therefore it is certainly worthwhile checking that your Will leaves your estate in the most tax efficient way.

 

Changes in Relationships

 

Relationships with family and friends can change over time, meaning that people named in your Will may no longer be as close to you or that the gifts left to certain people are no longer sufficient. It is worthwhile checking to make sure you’re still happy with the people named in your Will.

 

Children get Older

 

Your Will may have been written years ago when your children were still infants and so needed protecting, but they may now be grown up and capable of managing your estate should they wish. Appointing them to act as executor of your Will may now be appropriate and you should check your Will to see if you can do so.

 

Care Home Fees

 

Your Will may have been written when you were much younger and had no consideration of care home fees in the future, but as you get older the prospect of care may be more real now. There is planning that can be done in your Will to ensure you can protect as much of your estate as possible from care home costs.

 

Grandchildren are born

 

When you made your Will you may not have had any grandchildren or more may have been born, therefore if you want to include your grandchildren you may need to change your Will.

 

At Gamlins we are always happy to sit down with a client and read through their existing Will to make sure it still matches their wishes. Please contact us and one of our trained staff will arrange an appointment to meet you and discuss your Will.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Find my Will! A blog on lost Wills and how to stay one step ahead!

Find my Will! A blog on lost Wills and how to stay one step ahead! Finding a lost Will is no easy task and the trap of losing your Will is something that happens oh so easily.   Like a mobile phone down the sofa or remembering where you put your keys, legal documentation   is no different! You might at this stage be asking “how could I lose something as important as my Will” but you’ll   be surprised at how easily it happens! One of the most common ways that a Will is lost is by self-storage. “If I make the Will and store it myself, it can’t go missing right?” However that is often the problem. Because a Will is so important, and the content so sensitive, they often get hidden away. This means that they may be safe from prying eyes, but in later years or during a house move or clear out, a Will could often be lost. It could also be that you pass away and your loved ones are struggling to find your Will. If there isn’t a clear indicator as to its location, it cou...
Read more

Organ donation and your Will: Make your wishes known!

Organ donation and your Will: Make your wishes known! On the 1st December 2015, Wales made history by becoming the first country in the United Kingdom to create an “opt out” system of organ donation. Formally introduced by the Human Transplantation Wales Act, the plan was to combat the lack of organ donation by making everyone an organ donor unless they formally registered their wish not to be. Over two years on, it would appear that the scheme, although still in its infancy, is still creating waves with both the English and Scottish parliament considering whether to also implement such schemes. This also comes at a time when the number of organ donors is at an all-time high, with a report today detailing an astounding 11% increase in 2017. Given the recent implementation of such schemes, you may be left wondering where you stand on compulsory organ donation, and the toss up of helping others when you’re gone against the right to decide what happens to your body after death...
Read more

End of life care and Lasting Powers of Attorney: Giving power back to your loved ones.

End of life care and Lasting Powers of Attorney: Giving power back to your loved ones. By Samuel Amer On the 30 th of July, the UK Supreme Court handed down an unprecedented decision. The court held that when an individual was in a permanent vegetative state, and there was an agreement between the family and doctors, medical staff could withdraw food & water from the patient allowing them to pass away. This decision is seen as quite a departure from legal precedent. Previously families and doctors who were in agreement would have to endure an agonising process of applying to the Court of Protection to have life sustaining care removed. Although some groups feel that the decision is inhumane, many people who have endured the terrible situation of watching a loved one needlessly remain in an undignified state have welcomed the ruling. As the nation’s aged population increases, it’s the case that more of us have developed our own views on end of life care, and also...
Read more