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Wills
Contents
Can I exclude my ex-partner from my Will?
Introduction
If you do not already have one or if you are recently married, separated or divorced then you will need to consider making a new Will. This will be particularly important if you wish to make adequate arrangements for your children after you die.
How do I make a Will?
If you have a large and complicated estate you may well want to consult a solicitor. However, a lot of people write their own Wills. As with other legal matters, what was once thought to be the domain of lawyers is now no longer the case. Many books and do-it-yourself kits are available which guide you through the process of making a legally valid Will.
The main elements of a Will that you will need to consider are:
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Executors - the people who will carry out the instructions in your Will.
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Trustees - the people who will look after gifts and money left in trust, usually for children until they reach a certain age (at least 18). If you name trustees in your Will, they will almost certainly also be your executors.
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Guardians - the people who will look after your children after you die, if the other parent is also dead. You must have parental responsibility of your children in order to name guardians.
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Specific gifts - gifts, such as jewellery and other items, that you leave to people.
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Non-specific gifts - gifts of amounts of money.
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Residual gifts - gifts of the remainder of your estate, after the deduction of other gifts, plus funeral and other expenses (such as inheritance tax).
If you wish to make a Will that passes all your estate to your children then you will probably only need to consider the executors/trustees and residual beneficiaries (your children). If the other parent is deceased or if he or she is alive and you are able to discuss the matter then you should also name guardians, if your children are minors.
Trusts
Children under the age of 18 are not allowed to sign a receipt for a gift made to them in a Will. Such gifts should normally be left in trust for them until they reach the age of 18, or whatever age is stated in the Will.
Parents and guardians are allowed to sign a receipt on their childrens' behalf. In the case of small gifts this would normally be acceptable and discharges the executor of any further responsibility.
If you want to leave substantial gifts of the major part of your estate and if you also want to make arrangements for the provision of your children for the years following your death until they are able to look after themselves, you will need to place such gifts in 'trust'.
Your trustees will probably also be the executors of your Will and will be responsible for looking after your estate on behalf of your children. Trustees have the legal powers to use the money as they see fit. For instance they will need to pay for expenses such as school fees. They will also want to invest money. You should make sure that trustees named in your Will are fully agreeable to taking on the responsibility. They must also be competant enough to do the job well; they will after all be sharing the responsibility of looking after your childrens' welfare possibly for many years.
Guardians
If your childrens' other parent has died it is important that you name a guardian in your Will. If the other parent is still alive and if you can discuss these matters with them you should agree who should look after your children in the event of your both dying. Commonly a guardian is a close family member such as a brother or sister of one of the parents but should in any case be someone who the children know, trust, and like.
A guardian takes on the parental responsibility for the children and must be someone who you trust implicitly to bring up your children. Before you put their names on your Will you must be sure that they are fully aware of the huge responsibility that they will be taking on.
You must have parental responsibility for your children before you can name someone as a guardian.
Can I exclude my ex-spouse from my Will?
You can include or exclude whoever you like. However, if you exclude your ex-spouse, they may be able to make a claim on your estate if you owe them money or if you make payments to them of maintenance or other regular lump sums.
If you die intestate (without having made a Will) and if you are not divorced, your spouse will have the first claim on your estate.
Legacies to charities
A gift made to a charity in a Will is completely exempt from inheritance tax.
Many people leave gifts to charities. This may take the form of a specific amount of money but it is common to make a charity a 'substitute' beneficiary of the residue of the estate, in the event of other residue beneficiaries dying before they can receive their gifts. This has the effect of making sure that the entire estate goes somewhere, the charity being the beneficiary of all the failed residue gifts.
A charity may be made a residue beneficiary in its own right, rather than a substitute beneficiary, probably receiving a percentage of the residue.
Families Need Fathers is a registered charity and therefore any gifts left to it in a Will would be eligible for exemption from inheritance tax.
Make a Will online
ThomasRushworth is an online Will writing service which will enable you to appoint trustees and guardians for your children, together with all the other main provisions of Wills.
The site has been approved by a solicitor and its developers are members of the Society of Will Writers.
If you decide to purchase a Will from ThomasRushworth a donation of £3 will be made to Families Need Fathers.
Updated 26-03-2003