Home-made DIY wills can be catastrophic.
It’s true you can go down to a major chain of newsagents or post office and pick up a form for making your own will for around £12. However, the dangers could cost you many thousands.
It’s obvious that LSUK should suggest that you must use a professional to complete your own Last Will and Testament, but they say that with ‘good care of the client’ in mind. Even if a client should choose not to use LSUK to draft their Will, LSUK would suggest you went to another professional and don’t try to do it yourself.
They’ve seen many major errors simply because DIYers didn’t know how the law operates or what certain clauses mean in Will writing.
For example; one Will that was contested and consequently thrown out by a judge basically said that “I leave £20,000 to my brothers x and y”. Now the first question is ‘is that each or between them?’ If you’re on the receiving end of that legacy you’d want the full £20,000, not just a half of it. This is just one example of many major problems and mistakes seen in DIY wills.
Often DIY Wills are not signed and witnessed properly. If these actions are not completed in the manner that the law requests, the whole Will becomes invalid. That certainly isn’t the intention of the DIYer.
Home made Wills may leave out particularly significant details, such as what you wish to happen if the main beneficiary does not survive. It’s always worth talking to a professional to make sure everything you need to cover is included in your will, particularly considering the needs of inheritance tax planning and nursing home planning.
Fortunately, the numbers of DIY wills being purchased and actually used is reducing rapidly as people realise that minor errors can lead to drastic mistakes, particularly with inheritance tax such an important element to consider.
LSUK have found that a number of people show them their blank DIY form (too difficult to understand and complete) before giving their instructions to trained consultants, who change everything into easy English. Even the form purchase price is wasted!
Filed under: Legal Advice
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