Business

Your will needs to be well planned and worded – even if you're not Shakespeare

You don't have to be Shakespeare to write a will
You don't have to be Shakespeare to write a will You don't have to be Shakespeare to write a will

He was a legend in his own lifetime - but William Shakespeare has left us precious little knowledge of himself as a person.

One fact we do know, however, is that exactly 400 years ago this year, his last work was his will.

‘Will’s will’, dated March 25 1616, is the document in which he famously left his wife his ‘second-best bed’.

Completed just a month before his death, Will’s will also stipulated that his daughter’s new husband, Thomas Quiney - a ‘Jack the lad’ who failed to impress his father-in-law - wasn’t to get a penny.

Shakespeare’s story sums up the two great aspects of a will: not only does it allow you to dictate who should benefit from your estate, but it also allows you to say who should not.

The subject will be topical in the coming weeks, as November is traditionally ‘Will Aid’ month, and appointments are now being taken by participating solicitors for anyone wanting to take advantage of this scheme.

‘Will Aid’ is a charitable initiative where participating solicitors waive their fee for writing you a basic will, and instead you are invited to make a donation to charity.

It injects a little ‘feelgood factor’ into the rather dull task of planning for your demise, especially when you see the well-loved charities that benefit: ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children, SCIAF, Sightsavers, and Trocaire. This year the suggested donation is £95 for a basic single will, or £150 for a pair of basic mirror wills.

A lot of people have taken advantage of the scheme, to write the will that would have to be sorted at some stage anyway. Since it was launched in 1988, over 275,000 people have used Will Aid and raised £16m for charity.

If the idea appeals, you may wish to consult a financial adviser to plan and structure your will efficiently, before completing the drawing up of the final document with the solicitor. (You can check the scheme’s register of participating solicitors on willaid.org.uk to find out who is the representative in your local area.)

Yet many people may ask: why write a will at all?

A properly-written will can clearly state your wishes for the distribution of your wealth, and nominate the person you appoint to carry out your wishes (your ‘executor’); it can also nominate guardians for your young children if anything were to happen to you before they are 18.

But most of all, a will puts you in control. It is the definition of ‘thinking outside the box’ - it records your last wishes, even as they are carrying you out the door!

If, on the other hand, you die with no will in place, the state steps in to apportion your wealth according to the laws of intestacy, which, while generally fair and reasonable, may not stipulate exactly what you would have wanted.

Intestacy law will certainly not acknowledge any special wishes you may have had – in fact, in the absence of a will document, your own wishes could remain unknown, and may go with you to the grave.

Of course, there are any number of books and websites offering you information on writing your own will, but there are a number of reasons why good advice is essential in putting together such an important document.

Wordings must be clear and unambiguous, and instructions must be logical and in keeping with the intentions of you, the author of the will (the ‘testator’).

Here’s a true example of what can go wrong, if you make your will without recourse to expert guidance.

In 1928 an anonymous British millionaire left a legacy of half a million pounds. He specified that the money was to go towards clearing the national debt. However, he imposed a crucial condition: the money could only be touched once it had grown enough to clear the whole debt.

Today, his legacy has grown to £350 million, but, as the national debt is around four thousand times bigger at £1.5 trillion, the UK still can’t use the money.

So our anonymous benefactor’s dream seems to have run into the sand.

Now, if only he had taken a little financial advice, someone might have pointed out that the conditions attached to his philanthropic gesture would almost certainly consign it to failure!

Will-writing is one of those tasks in life where it’s worthwhile gathering up the best advice available, both in terms of the preliminary financial planning, and the formal completion of the document.

Your ‘Will’s will’ needs to be properly planned and worded – even if it’s not going to be Shakespeare!

:: Michael Kennedy is an independent financial adviser and pensions specialist, and can be contacted on 028 71886005