Making a will
Writing your will is an important part of planning for your future and your family’s future. Our solicitors specialise in wills and probate. We can help you with making a will, a declaration of trust or a deed of variation.
Why do I need a will?
Your will is a set of clear instructions for what you want to happen after you die. After your death, your will is used to distribute your assets according to your wishes. Everything you've built up over your lifetime - your house, money, and valuables - is dealt with by your will.
Wills also provide clear direction for family and friends at a difficult time. Your will can help take some of the pressure off, for example, you can tell your loved ones what you want to happen to your body and any requests for your funeral.
What happens if I don't make a will?
- If you’re married, your spouse might not receive everything you want them to have
- If you’re unmarried, your partner might not receive anything at all – even if you’ve been together a long time
- Your loved ones may need to involve solicitors to sort out your estate - often a long, expensive process
Making a will provides peace of mind, for you and your loved ones. We can help you through every step of the process - whether you want to make a new will, update your current will or just need advice, for example, if you’re thinking of leaving money to charity in your will.
Why do I need a will solicitor?
You could choose to do it yourself, with a so-called ‘DIY will’, but a properly written will gives you peace of mind. To be certain, a will should be written and checked by a legal professional. DIY wills do not give you the same peace of mind because any mistake, however small, could result in your will being challenged.
At Tees we have a large team of wills and trusts solicitors who offer a comprehensive range of wills, trusts, tax, probate services including:
- Wills and trusts – as well as wills, trusts are legal arrangements used as tools to plan for the future and provide financial protection. Ways you can use a trust include: passing your wealth to your children or grandchildren, paying school fees or care home fees, or as part of your tax planning. At Tees our team of family trust lawyers has been looking after many families for generation after generation, working with them to manage their wealth for the long-term benefit of the family.
- Declaration of trust - a document to set out who owns what percentage of a property. When the property is sold, the percentage is allocated accordingly. They can be useful for unmarried couples or for parents who have lent money to adult children to buy a property – the bank of mum and dad!
Talk to our specialist will writing solicitors
At Tees we combine legal advice with independent financial advice to offer you a comprehensive service, including specialist tax accountants to plan the most efficient tax solution for you and those you remember in your will.
Whatever you need and whenever you need it, our team is here to help. Call us now for a confidential chat, and we'll show you how we can help.
Call our Wills and Probate solicitors on 0800 0131165
For an initial chat, at no obligation, or fill out our enquiry form and a solicitor will get in touch.
Our services
Frequently asked questions
If you die without a will, your money will be distributed under the rules of intestacy. Under intestacy rules, your next of kin can inherit your money and assets according to a strict order of priority.
If you have a spouse or civil partner and children, then your spouse/ civil partner would receive the first £250,000 of your estate and personal chattels. Anything above this amount would be split as to half for the surviving spouse/ civil partner and half equally between your children. If any of your children have predeceased you, then their share may pass to any surviving children of theirs.
If you should pass away without any surviving spouse/civil partner, children or grandchildren then your estate shall pass in accordance with the following order of priority:
- Parents
- Brothers and sisters (or their children)
- Half-brothers and sisters (or their children)
- Grandparents
- Uncles and aunts (or their children)
- Half-uncles and aunts (or their children)
If you have no surviving relatives as described above, then your estate would pass to the Crown. Having a properly written will in place means your wishes are known and can be carried out after your death.
The benefits of having a properly written will include:
- You choose who inherits from your estate
- You can choose someone to trust to administer your estate
- Your family know what your wishes are
- Gives the opportunity for estate and inheritance tax planning and management
- Makes appropriate provisions for minors or dependents
- Assists your estate in the event that the will is contested.
The National Will Register is an official register of wills in the UK. It is approved by the Law Society and used by many solicitor firms. If your will is registered, solicitors can easily find it after your death.
No – it’s not compulsory to register your will on the National Will Register. However, if you register your will it can make it easier for your family to know what your wishes are after your death.
In order to be valid, a will should be:
- Made by a person over the age of 18
- Made in writing; the will can be handwritten or typed
- Made by a person with mental capacity, who understands what they are doing
- Made voluntarily and without pressure
- Signed by the person making the will, with two witnesses present
- Signed by two witnesses, in the presence of the person making the will, after they have signed the will themselves.