Pre-Appointment Information

Common choices are your spouse or partner, adult children, other family members, friends or even a professional. Whoever you name should be someone that you trust, are comfortable with knowing your finances and that you are confident has the ability to manage the finances involved.

Naming Guardians

If you have children under 18 years, or plan to have children in the near future, you should consider who you would like to name as guardians in your Will. If you did not name anyone, it would be down to the courts to decide.

Common people you could consider are your parents, siblings or close friends. Whoever you name, you should always ask them before naming them in your Will so if you can talk to them beforehand to confirm that they’d be happy to take on this role that’s great!

There are a few things that you should consider before appointing a guardian:

• Location of the guardians – do they live close to you and would allow your children to continue attending the same schools unaffected? If not, how would your children be affected by needing to move?
• Personality and values – does your proposed guardian have similar values to you when it comes to raising children? Do they have a good relationship with your children?
• Other children – do they have other children? If so, do your children get on well with them? Would your proposed guardian be able handle the additional responsibilities of raising your children in addition to their own?
• Age – an older guardian may be willing to accept an appointment now, but would they still be able to manage in ten years?

Assets

Before our meeting, you should think about what assets you own and roughly how much they are worth. For example, think about the value of your home, any cash in the bank, investments, life policies or pensions. You should also have an idea of your debts, such as a mortgage or any loans that you have.

Gifts

There are a number of different types of gifts that you could make under your will. For example, you can make money gifts, gifts of personal items such as jewellery and gifts of property. Finally, there is the gift of all that is left over known as your ‘Residuary Estate’. This is likely to be the bulk of your estate.

You should consider if there any special gifts that you wish to make and who should inherit what is left over. Don’t worry if you’re not too sure at this point, as during our meeting we may find ourselves discussing more complex options like trusts to protect your assets.

Funeral

Do you have any special wishes for your funeral? You may wish to include basic funeral wishes in your will. It should be noted however that these will not be legally binding on your executors to carry out. We can also discuss pre-paid funeral plans and their benefits.

Aims

Have a think about what aims you want to achieve with your will. Your will can achieve more than just simply gifting your estate. There may be Inheritance Tax benefits to be gained by your Will or you might be more interested in protecting your estate so your spouse or children are provided for in a way most suitable to their needs.

Documents to bring

Before your meeting, you should have the following documents prepared and ready to bring with you:

• Proof of your ID.
• Your previous wills (if any).
• Any trust documents that might be relevant.

We accept all regular forms of ID, including valid non-EU passports, valid EU passports, UK photo driving licenses, and national identity cards.