How to Make Your Own Will

by Bowley, Gordon

• ISBN13: 9781845282189
• ISBN10: 1845282183
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-15
• Publisher: How to Books Ltd

Summary

This thoroughly update third edition now includes: the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which gives statutory backing to the concept of Living Wills and made major changes to the law relating to Powers of Attorney; the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the resulting changes in the law of Inheritance; and a new separate chapter on Inheritance Tax and Tax saving your Will. REVIEWS: "'If you want to save a lot of money on solicitor's bills, buy this book.' The Observer Reader's reviews 'I bought this book recently and have found it extremely helpful...deserves a place on every family's bookshelf.' 'Covers the things a solicitor would tell you if you could afford to pay for the time it would take.'" AUTHOR BIOG: Gordon Bowley has practised as a family solicitor for over thirty years. This is his second book aimed at helping lay-people reduce or avoid entirely the exorbitant cost of consulting a solicitor. CONTENTS: 1. Why should you make a will? 2. Can you make a will and how to do it 3. What can be left in your will? 4. Matters to be considered when contemplating making your will 5. Inheritance tax and saving tax in your will. 6. Clauses recommended to be included and clauses to be excluded 7. Points on which you should take special care when drafting your will 8. The international element of wills 9. Revoking your will 10. General advice concerning wills and associated matters Appendices Checklist Glossary Index

Table of Contents

Preface to the third edition	p. xiii
Why should you make a will?	p. 1
It is your money and you want to decide who shall have it	p. 1
Do you really have nothing to leave but your debts?	p. 3
Are you too young and not ready to die?	p. 3
If you have to go, you should go your way (or try to)	p. 4
They are your children and you should decide who should bring them up	p. 4
Hasn't the government taken enough tax from you in your lifetime?	p. 5
Sparing your next of kin extra pain	p. 6
Some matters are really urgent	p. 6
What happens if you die without a valid will (in greater detail!)	p. 7
Who will administer your estate?	p. 7
Who will inherit your estate?	p. 8
What will happen to your business?	p. 13
Can you make a will and how to do it	p. 15
Can you make a will?	p. 15
Complying with the formalities	p. 17
Your will must be made in writing	p. 18
Your will must be signed by you or by someone in your presence and at your request	p. 19
Your signature on the will must be made or acknowledged by you in the presence of two or more witnesses who must be present at the same time	p. 20
Each witness must sign the will and either sign or acknowledge his signature in your presence	p. 20
It must be apparent that you intend to give effect to the will by signing it	p. 21
A few general words on the subject of signing the will and witnesses	p. 21
Conventions	p. 23
Taking precautions against fraud	p. 24
What you can leave by your will	p. 26
General principles	p. 26
Mutual wills	p. 28
Jointly owned property i.e. property not in your sole name	p. 30
Business partnerships	p. 32
Property you do not own	p. 33
Insurance policies taken out or held on trust for another	p. 33
Other property you do not own over which you have a power of appointment	p. 33
Other property you do not own over which you have no power of appointment	p. 34
Nominated property	p. 35
Property which by its nature has restricted alienability	p. 35
Some existing rights in relation to land	p. 35
Shares in some limited companies	p. 35
Your body	p. 36
Statutory restrictions of your right to leave your assets to whom you choose	p. 37
Statutory tenancies	p. 37
The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 as amended	p. 37
Intangible assets	p. 40
Private pension scheme benefits	p. 40
Matters to consider when contemplating making your will	p. 41
Joint wills	p. 41
The number of executors	p. 41
Whom should you choose to be your executors?	p. 42
Appointing guardians for your children by will	p. 45
Your funeral and the disposal of your body after your death	p. 50
Making provision for your pets	p. 54
Factors to consider which might influence your choice of beneficiaries	p. 55
Avoiding challenges to your will	p. 55
Elderly beneficiaries	p. 55
The family home	p. 56
Gifts to the young and age-contingent gifts	p. 58
Bequests to spendthrifts and bankrupts	p. 61
Bequests to those incapable of managing their affairs or suffering from other disabilities	p. 63
Inheritance tax and saving tax in your will	p. 66
How inheritance tax works	p. 66
Which of your assets are taxed?	p. 66
How the tax is calculated	p. 67
Which assets are exempt from the tax?	p. 68
Gifts which are exempt from tax	p. 69
How the tax on gifts is calculated	p. 72
Benefiting from things you have given away	p. 74
The reservation of a benefit rule	p. 74
The rules relating to pre-owned assets	p. 75
Reliefs against inheritance tax	p. 78
Business property relief	p. 78
How business property relief works	p. 78
What property is entitled to business relief?	p. 78
What kind of businesses are entitled to business relief?	p. 80
Agricultural property relief	p. 80
How and when agricultural property relief applies	p. 81
The property to which agricultural property relief applies	p. 82
Which rate of relief applies?	p. 84
Agricultural relief and mortgaged property	p. 84
Woodland relief	p. 85
Relief for heritage assets	p. 86
Double taxation relief	p. 86
Who bears the inheritance tax?	p. 86
Calculating the inheritance tax	p. 88
Making gifts in your lifetime	p. 89
Deciding what to give and to whom	p. 89
Lifetime gifts by terminally ill spouses and civil partners	p. 90
Reducing inheritance tax by making a will	p. 91
Using exempt gifts in your will	p. 91
Equalisation of estates between civil partners, the survivor exemption and the nil-rate band	p. 91
Nil-rate band discretionary trusts	p. 94
The Debt/Charge Discretionary Will Trust Scheme	p. 97
The Loan Scheme	p. 97
Warnings	p. 98
Taxation of nil-rate band discretionary trusts	p. 99
Using nil-rate band legacies without a discretionary trust	p. 99
The advantages of using a nil-rate band discretionary will trust	p. 100
The two-year discretionary will trust	p. 100
The use of survivorship clauses and bequests to your spouse or civil partner	p. 101
Special rules where exempt beneficiaries are concerned	p. 104
'Grossing up' of legacies and gifts	p. 104
'Related property' valuation rules	p. 105
Cohabitees and the survivorship exemption	p. 106
Skipping a generation	p. 106
Clauses recommended to be included and clauses recommended to be excluded from your will	p. 108
Your name and address	p. 108
The date of the will	p. 109
A revocation clause	p. 109
The appointment of executors	p. 109
Alternative provisions for bequests to beneficiaries who predecease you and for bequests that fail	p. 109
Clauses relating to the remarriage of your spouse or the registration of your civil partner's new partnership after your death and providing for children of your previous marriage or registered partnership	p. 112
Mirror/Mutual wills	p. 115
Survivorship clauses	p. 115
Who bears the debts, funeral expenses and expenses incurred in carrying out your will and inheritance tax?	p. 115
Giving property which is mortgaged or subject to a financial charge	p. 116
Giving lifetime interests in assets	p. 116
Additional administrative powers in wills	p. 117
Powers of maintenance and advancement in relation to contingent gifts and gifts to minors	p. 118
Powers of investment and borrowing	p. 118
Receipt clauses for bequests to minors and bequests to organisations	p. 118
Beneficiaries who cannot be found	p. 119
Limited interests and apportionment of income	p. 119
Giving your executor power to carry on a business	p. 120
Giving your executor power to buy things from your estate	p. 120
Giving powers to appoint new or additional trustees	p. 120
Excluding the beneficiaries' power to remove trustees	p. 121
The duty of trustees of land to consult with beneficiaries	p. 121
Limiting the extent of liability for acts done in the administration of your estate	p. 122
Attestation clause	p. 122
Settling old scores	p. 122
Points on which you should take special care when drafting your will	p. 123
Be precise and say what you mean	p. 123
Describing beneficiaries	p. 125
Describing bequests	p. 128
Legacies to those who owe you money and to those to whom you owe money	p. 129
The meaning of some words and phrases	p. 130
Void provisions in wills	p. 132
Gifts to those who witness your will	p. 133
Gifts which are contrary to law or contrary to public policy	p. 133
Gifts which infringe the rules against perpetuities and accumulations	p. 135
Section 33 of the Wills Act 1837 (as amended)	p. 135
The effect of Divorce or Annulment of your marriage or Dissolution of your Civil Partnership on your will	p. 136
Effect on bequests to your spouse or civil partner	p. 136
Effect on spouse's or partner's power of appointment, executorship and trusteeship	p. 136
Effect on your spouse or partner as guardian	p. 136
The international element of wills	p. 138
Making a valid will if you are outside England and Wales	p. 138
Wills relating to property which is situated out of England and Wales	p. 140
Revoking or amending your will	p. 141
Amending your will	p. 141
Revoking your will	p. 142
The privileged wills of those engaged in actual military service and sailors at sea	p. 142
Revocation by marriage or registration of a civil partnership	p. 142
Revoking your will by destroying the will with the intention to revoke it	p. 143
Revoking your will by implication	p. 144
Revoking your will by an express revocation	p. 144
Dependent relative revocation	p. 145
General advice concerning wills and associated matters	p. 146
Keeping your will safe	p. 146
Information for your executors	p. 148
Living wills and advance decisions	p. 150
The nature of living wills	p. 150
Differentiating between treatment and nursing care	p. 150
Your best interests	p. 151
A right to die?	p. 152
Making a living will under Common Law	p. 152
Making an advance decision after the Mental Capacity Act 2005	p. 153
Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney	p. 156
Lasting Powers of Attorney	p. 158
What you can do and what you cannot do by giving a Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 158
The mental capacity you need to make a Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 160
Choosing and appointing an attorney for your Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 160
The form of your Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 162
Registering your Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 162
Revoking your Lasting Power of Attorney	p. 163
The Statutory Code of Practice	p. 164
Periodic reviews and deeds of family arrangement	p. 164
Specimen forms and documents	p. 167
Specimen form of notice of severance of joint tenancy	p. 167
Specimen note as to reasons why a potential claimant under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 has been left no or only a limited inheritance	p. 168
Basic skeleton form of a will with the residuary beneficiaries to benefit equally	p. 169
Notes	p. 171
Alternative provision to be used in the skeleton form of a will if you wish to leave the estate to your spouse for life or until she remarries and afterwards to other beneficiaries	p. 172
Notes	p. 173
Alternative provision to be used in the skeleton form of a will if you wish the residuary beneficiaries to benefit unequally	p. 174
Notes	p. 175
Will leaving the entire estate to your spouse and appointing her as the sole executrix with alternative provisions should she die before you	p. 176
Notes to the above will	p. 179
Additional clauses to be inserted in a will	p. 180
In a will made with a marriage in mind	p. 180
In a will containing gifts to under age beneficiaries	p. 181
Appointment of guardians	p. 181
Advancement clause	p. 181
Receipt clause for a bequest	p. 181
Power to invest and borrow	p. 181
Exclusion of statutory powers relating to trustees 'duty to consult with beneficiaries and beneficiaries' power to appoint and remove trustees	p. 181
In a will which contains a bequest to an organisation	p. 181
Receipt clause	p. 181
Bequest and receipt clause for a bequest to a charity	p. 182
In a will which contains a gift for life or time contingent interest	p. 182
Power of investment	p. 182
Exclusion of the rules of apportionment	p. 182
Advancement clause	p. 182
Personal benefit by trustees	p. 182
Exclusion of statutory provisions relating to trustees' duty to consult with beneficiaries and beneficiaries power to appoint and remove trustees	p. 182
In the will of a testator who is involved in a business	p. 183
In several wills which contain reciprocal bequests	p. 183
Specimen form of codicil	p. 183
Specimen attestation clauses for use in wills and codicils in special situations	p. 184
Attestation clause for use in the will or codicil of a testator who cannot write but makes his mark	p. 184
Note	p. 184
Attestation clause for use in the will or codicil of a testator who cannot make a mark or write	p. 185
Note	p. 185
Attestation clause for use in the will or codicil of a testator who is blind	p. 186
Note	p. 186
Specimen form of advance decision or living will	p. 187
Note	p. 188
Checklist for use after you have prepared your will but before you sign it	p. 189
Glossary	p. 195
Index	p. 199
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