DIY Wills - and why they are dangerous.

You may already realize that you do not need a Will writer, solicitor nor other professional to make a Will. In fact, you can Do-It-Yourself simply using a scrap of paper at home or one of the kits available from high street stationers.

So why not give it a go with a DIY Will - what harm can it do? After all, any Will is better than no Will at all, isn’t it? Well actually a bad Will can be the worst solution of all. Here are just some of the issues:-

• About one third of DIY Wills are found to be defective / invalid. This can lead to large legal bills as solicitors fight it out in front of a judge trying to decide if the Will is valid and working out just what you really meant to do. With a 200 per cent rise in the number of contested Wills in the last 3 years the legal profession seem to be making a lot of money out of other people’s mistakes.
• Words in legal documents have particular meanings. Using the right word in the wrong place may mean that in legal terms the meaning is clear and unambiguous - but it might not be what you actually intended.
• A DIY Will may be valid and do what you want it to do - but without professional advice in the first place you may be missing great opportunities to help your family in the long term. So often one of the first things that clients say is that their affairs are simple and their wishes very straightforward - but later, when they have had advice from InHouse, they choose a more sophisticated Will to protect the family inheritance from all sorts of unexpected problems.

It is reported that the folks at Which? considered producing their own model Wills but decided against it, since it would put too many people on the wrong track. If these champions of consumer rights are worried about DIY Wills, shouldn’t you also be worried?

Here’s just one example of the sorts of problems involved. You might write in a Will that

“I leave everything for my spouse, and then to our children”

So what does that mean?

1. It might mean that you leave it all to your spouse, but if he/she has died before you then you want it to go straight to your children instead. If your spouse does inherit from you, then he/she might spend it all or perhaps pass it on to whoever they wish when they die, which might not be your children.
2. Alternatively, you might mean that you leave your estate for your spouse to have the use of (e.g. to live in your share of the house) but when he/she dies then your estate is all to go to the children (even if your spouse is leaving their share of the estate to someone completely different). This approach can protect your share of things from being lost in paying your spouse’s future residential care fees, or other attacks upon your assets.

Two very different interpretations of one simple phrase, with potentially very different outcomes - but which one is right and which one was intended? If it is possible to have such uncertainty over just a few words consider how much more scope for confusion there is throughout a complete Will.

An appointment with InHouse removes the uncertainty, giving you peace of mind that you have thought through all the issues and ultimately you make a Will that is valid and with wording to give you full confidence.