By Rachel Jefferson.
Every day this week I have come across a horror story around the subject of people not making a Will or, even worse, not drawing up a Will correctly. It really brings it home to me just how important it is to make sure you have thought about how you would wish for your assets to be divided up in the event of death.
Saying you have got a Will is one thing, whether it is right or not is another. Solicitors tell me that they see ‘off the shelf’ Wills that have used different colour inks, are not dated correctly and not even witnessed; I could go on, but you get my point. If you have gone to the effort of thinking about drawing a Will, then at least get it right. If you make a mistake, it can leave you in the same position as if you hadn’t written a Will at all.
As a professional, I would always recommend another professional qualified to draft the Will, or any other legal document, i.e. Power of Attorney. I suppose what does put people off is who they are going to choose as Executors. Ideally, they need to be trustworthy; after all they are going to be dividing up possessions and estate on death.
I have a campaign this year and that is to ensure that every client I see has a Will drawn. If not, I will refer them to a Solicitor to arrange this for them. I appreciate that it can be an ardous task, but setting aside one day for this can help relieve many days of heartache for loved ones in the future.