Wills are for the Elderly – Wrong!

Posted 23/09/2009

Robert Chalmers, a Wealth Management partner in Ashtons Legal’s Norwich office, summarises the perils of intestacy.

A national newspaper ran a story recently about a lady who is having to sue her toddlers. Why? Because her husband died in his 40s having made a Will which turned out not to be valid. The Intestacy rules (which apply when someone dies without a Will) mean that much of his wealth is due to pass to his children rather than to his wife. She is therefore having to bring a ‘dependency’ claim in order to get some money back and maintain a reasonable standard of living. There are some important lessons to learn from this.

Dying without a Will at any age is bad news. It means you have no control over what happens to your assets. It is particularly unwise if you have a family, hold assets individually rather than jointly, and have property or savings worth more than