The Importance of Having a Will and Having One Written During the Pandemic

We’re all going through challenging times at the moment, with many of us trying to cope with lockdown and the pandemic. Most of us don’t want to think about a time when we are no longer here but Covid-19 has certainly put this into sharper focus.

While making a will can seem like quite a somber undertaking, it’s an important document. It sets out your wishes for how you want your estate to be handled when you die.

Why You Should Have a Will

It’s worrying in the UK that more than half of people don’t have a will at alland that includes 6 out of 10 parents.

People have plenty of reasons for not writing a will, of course. They don’t have enough time. They don’t have much to leave. so, They are too young to think about something that seems so distant.

The blunt truth is that none of us knows when we are going to die. Even if you only have a small amount of property or savings, not leaving a will can complicate things for loved ones, friends, and family.

If you pass away without leaving a will, you are considered to have died ‘intestate’. This means that, rather than your immediate family or partner, the courts will decide who gets your estate. This follows rules set down in the Administrations of Estates Act and tends to focus on blood relatives. If you are in a partnership but are not married, for example, that means your partner may not receive your estate as you want.

Dying intestate can also mean delays in settling your estate and could involve more cost if interested parties decide to dispute the settlement.

The good news is that writing a will is a relatively easy process. All you need to do is nominate an executor to handle your estate after your death and then note down your wishes how your assets are to be distributed.

It’s even more important to have a will if your estate is more complex or you want to leave certain assets to certain individuals.

Online Will Drafting

As you might expect, solicitors have been affected by the restrictions related to Covid-19 like every other business. Many have started to use online will drafting services to help reduce contact and keep their clients safe.

Requirements can be discussed in a variety of ways, including by email, phone and video conferencing so that a solicitor can understand what a particular client needs.

This is particularly important for those who are isolating or shielding because they are at risk and who don’t have a will. It can also be applied to anyone who wants to update their existing will.

Hopefully, over the next few months, we can all start to move away from the restrictions that Covid-19 has imposed and things can get back to normal. In the meantime, technology is there to help and is currently being used by many solicitors to take instructions and draft wills across England and Wales.