Making our Wills with Farewill

Last Updated on 7 July 2020 by Colette

*This is a commissioned post for Farewill*

So I’m going to ask you a serious question . . . Have you got a will?  According to a YouGov survery quoted in this BBC news article last year, two thirds of British adults don’t have a will . . . are you one of them?  Until tonight I was.  And so was Dave.

It’s not really something any of us want to think about is it?  We don’t want to think that our death could happen any time soon, we’re too busy living our lives now.  But actually, dying without leaving a will can make things really complicated for those left behind.  It’s all too easy to think “Well I don’t really have any assets” or “It will automatically just go to my spouse / kids / sister . . . ” but it’s really not that simple.  If you die without making a will there are rules which dictate how your estate is divided up and who can stake a claim to it – you might find the money going to people you didn’t even know existed.  Equally, if you’re unmarried or not in a registered civil partnership then without a will, your partner wouldn’t be entitled to inherit anything.

When Ben was born, Dave and I asked my sister if she would be his legal guardian should anything happen to us.  She agreed but we’ve never actually got round to making it legal.  If Dave and I were to die tomorrow, with no named legal guardian, we could be putting our children at risk of being taken into care or of complex custody battles – I would like to think that wouldn’t be the case and that our wishes would be adhered to but unless we get it put in writing there is no guarantee.  So regardless of any monetary value in our estate, the children and who might look after them was the single biggest reason we needed to write a will.

Making a will is one of those things you know you’ve got to do but for one reason or another you just don’t get round to it.  I think for Dave and I the main reason has always been financial, I always thought getting a will was expensive and in all honesty there’s always something else to spend the money on isn’t it there – something infinitely more exciting or seemingly urgent than making plans for after your death.

But actually it doesn’t have to be expensive.  Farewill.com offer wills at just £50 and if you make wills as a couple you get a 15% discount  . . . so you can get the whole thing done and dusted for less than £100.

As Dave and I were making our wills together – they were extremely similar and essentially just swapped one person’s name for the other.  Often these would take the form of ‘Mirror Wills’ which are similar documents created on behalf of a married, civil partnership or unmarried couple. They are virtually identical Wills where half of the couple leaves their estate to the other in the event of their death.  Farewill doesn’t offer one “mirror will” but instead offers a discounted deal allowing both partners to get separate wills.  Although the end result is the same legally it means each partner has a little more flexibility around the details of personal gifts and messages – for example Dave has listed songs he would like to have played at his funeral and I have included details about my wedding rings.  For more information on this service visit the Farewill couples will page.

Actually making a will with Farewill takes very little time – I think we spent more time on Dave’s as we were checking details and getting used to the site, mine took very little time at all.  Probably around half an hour all in and a total cost of just £85.  Once your will is complete, it is checked by the experts at Farewill and then you must download, print and sign in the presence of witnesses to make the document legally binding.

So I’ll ask you again . . . do you have a will?  If you’re thinking about making a will with the help of Farewill.com then use the code ADVENTURE30 for a 30% discount (this code expires in June 2018).  With any luck your will won’t be needed for a very long time, but don’t leave it to chance.