Are you thinking about making a will? If so, there are a few things you might want to think about to ensure that your will doesn’t create problems for your friends and family after you’re gone.

Firstly, it’s great that you are thinking of making a will. Aretha Franklin recently died without one, despite a long-term illness. The state law in Michigan ensures that her estate passes to her four children equally.

A similar law operates in the UK passing the estate to the next of kin. This however might lead to an inheritance tax bill due to the way estates are taxed in the UK. Also, you might not want your family to inherit. The only way to guarantee that your estate goes where you want it to and to avoid any unnecessary tax bills is to make a will.

There is of course no obligation on you to leave your estate to your family, or anyone for that matter. The cliché of the impulsive parent serially re-writing their will to remove or add a child depending on their behaviour is more common than you might think.

Quite often the reasons for not including a child are perfectly reasonable. I’m often asked when clients are doing this is whether the children can effectively change the will after death. It’s not straightforward, but they would have the ability to claim against the estate.

I advise clients making a will like this to also make a note of their reasons. You won’t be able to put your side of the story across after you’ve gone. I recommend that when doing this to avoid focusing only on the negative. Perhaps also include reasons why they are befitting one child rather than another instead of simply why that child is missing out.

A more balanced and positive reasoning shows a more reasonable approach has been taken. One of the questions I get asked most by clients is if they put their home in their children’s names. This is often to remove the value of the home form their estate and reduce the likelihood of inheritance tax. However, when I explain that this could result in the children selling the house from under them, without the need for their approval, they decide against it.

This can work in a few circumstances but overall it doesn’t work for inheritance tax saving and opens you up to potentially being made homeless by your own children. If you are considering this, take professional advice. Unregulated will writers often talk of ’wealth management trusts’ for your home. Beware these can be extremely dangerous and end up costing a lot of time and money to reverse.

One other surprisingly difficult matter to deal with is provision for a client’s pet. Solicitors like certainty when will drafting and provision for ‘my parrot’, for example, opens the question as to which parrot you mean. Perhaps at the time of death, we’re talking about an ex-parrot.

Also, animals cost money. I’ve had beneficiaries left with the responsibility for the deceased’s dog and no financial compensation. Even with financial assistance there can be problems. It's difficult to anticipate how much is needed.

I once administered a will prepared by the deceased’s niece at his bedside the day before he died. She has studied law at university and downloaded a template off the internet. The will was valid but included a clause that specified all expenses relating to the dog (let’s call him Rover) are paid from the estate before the distribution of the residue.

Rover turned out to be a very poorly dog and as the administration progressed his vets’ bills exceeded £10,000. The beneficiaries not only had to look after Rover but watch their inheritance be swallowed up by his vets’ bills.

‘Homemade’ wills can give rise to complications and difficulties. I recently dealt with an estate where the deceased had hand-written a will at home. As part of this they had taken the time to place various coloured post-it notes on virtually every item in their home and the will said that the notes should be followed. Unfortunately, the will lacked the formal requirements of a valid will. Luckily the family were able to agree and see that, as far as possible, these wishes were carried out.

This can also affect gifts to charities. Charities rely on donations to survive and many clients remember chosen charities in their wills. What they might not appreciate is that the way your estate is taxed when sharing your estate between charities and other beneficiaries must be addressed in your will to avoid complication and even court cases after you’re gone. Without the right provisions the charities can end up receiving less than you intended and effectively paying tax on their share of the estate.

Finally, funeral wishes allow for all manner of issues. Mainly because they are not legally binding and are simply the client's wishes.

Your funeral wishes can be as detailed as you want and often include music and dress code. However, one client wished for his ashes to be scattered on the golf course at his local club. When it was suggested by his family that this may not be permitted by the club (it wouldn’t have been), he suggested that they do it at night time when no one would be around. I of course could not comment on that suggestion but simply reminded my client that funeral wishes are not legally binding.

Another client, upon finding out that funeral costs were deductible for inheritance tax purposes proposed having her funeral in the Caribbean and funding travel and accommodation for all the guests. Unfortunately, although this would have been an especially grand funeral, HMRC do require funeral expenses to be reasonable.

I always advise clients to ensure that their family and friends know what their wishes are, and the will acts as confirmation of this. Some might be interested to know that the current rules in relation to funeral pyres is under review. This is currently illegal.

For more information and legal advice CLICK HERE, or contact the author Liam Colville, solicitor – wills, trusts and probate at law firm Coffin Mew on 023 9236 4955 or via liamcolville@coffinmew.co.uk

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