Have you got a will?

[T.C.]

On Tuesday, I was in Essex with my colleague from our private client group, who was talking to a bike group about wills, probate and powers of attorney.

There was an audience of about 130 or so motorcyclists, and when asked the question, only about 10% had a will. Many had not thought about it, did not think it was worthwhile, did not think they had an estate of sufficient value or simply thought it was too expensive to make a will. So on that basis, I thought you might be inerested in an article recently prepared by my colleague Andy Grant who is an expert in the wills and probate area of law.

Great Britain has one of the best road safety records in Europe and the world. Despite massive increases in traffic over the last few decades, the number of people killed on our roads has fallen from around 5,500 per year in the mid 1980s to well under 1,754 in 2012. However, this still means that five people die on Britain's roads every day.

My colleague Andy Grant, a specialist Solicitor who deals with wills and probate and unfortunately he is being asked to deal with more and more fatal motorcycle crashes where the rider had no will in place, or the rider suffered such catastrophic injuries, they are incapable of looking after their own affairs.

Here he explains some of the issues that can arise and what happens in such cases, and how you as a motorcyclist can avoid placing extra stress on your family and loved ones in the event that the worst case scenario occurs (which of course we all hope will never happen)

You should firstly consider having a will prepared. A will dictates what happens to your estate on your death and can also be used to appoint legal guardians to look after any minor children you have. If you don’t have a will then there are laws to dictate how your estate would be divided and this may not be in accordance with your wishes and the person or persons who have to carry out the administration of your estate may not be who you would have chosen. Not having a will can make the administration of an estate very difficult at a time of grief and stress.

You should also consider putting lasting powers of attorney in place. A lasting power of attorney appoints a person or persons as attorneys to make decisions on your behalf if you are mentally incapable of making them for yourself. There are two types of lasting powers of attorney; one relating to health and welfare and one relating to property and affairs. They are two separate documents, and you can have one without the other. Within a lasting powers of attorney you can include your wishes with regards to how you would want your money to be spent, or even go so far as to state whether you would want life-sustaining medical treatment. To be used lasting powers of attorneys have to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

If no lasting powers of attorney are put in place then no one can make immediate decisions about your financial affairs and this can lead difficulties if you own a share in a business or are solely responsible for the financial affairs of your family. It could also mean that you are given medical treatment that you do not wish to receive.

If no lasting powers of attorney are put in place and someone needs to take control of your financial affairs because you lack mental capacity then they can apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed what is called a deputy. The difference between a deputy and an attorney is that you don’t choose who the deputy is, as they are appointed by the Court. The Court may not agree to the person applying being appointed or someone, such as a family member, may object to the appointment of the person applying.

The application process to be appointed as a deputy is very different from that of registering a lasting power of attorney and it is much more expensive, there is more administrative work to be done and takes much longer, sometimes up to 6 months. If welfare decisions need to be made on your behalf then, again, an application needs to be to Court of Protection, but the Court will usually only grant authority on a decision by decision basis.

Although a bit of a long read, if you have not got a will, maybe this may convince you to think about it. It only costs around £180 for a simple will, but it provides peace of mind and lack of aggravation for your next of kin should the worst case scenario occur.

Food for thought maybe......

[wayno]

£180? What happened to the days where it was a mad hunt to find the will hidden behind the antique painting in the study, before the sinister land owner came to build a shopping mall :)

In all seriousness I am one of those guilty many who doesn't have a will.

The only asset I have is the house and this is a Joint tenant mortgage so the girlfriend gets my half anyway (plus I get her half if she falls out the window into the running garden shredder). I should really sort a will out though to make sure the bike goes to a good home.

[T.C.]

The only asset I have is the house and this is a Joint tenant mortgage so the girlfriend gets my half anyway (plus I get her half if she falls out the window into the running garden shredder). I should really sort a will out though to make sure the bike goes to a good home.

I hear what you are saying about assetts, however!.....

When we renewed our will about 5 years ago (and because I work in the firm) my colleague offered to include a will for my daughter within the price for the 2 of us. My first thought was, she is only 18. lives at home in the hotel of Mum and Dad, she was a full time student and did not work, so how the hell can she be worth anything.

Well, I was gobsmacked when we sat down and worked it out. The value of her assetts came to around £25,000.

Your assetts do not automatically go to your nearest and dearest unless you have specified it in a will, and without a will it goes to probate and the Government decide who gets what.

So, you might be surprised as to how much you are actually worth.

[flatlander]

Plus there's a chariddy offer on will writing at the no IIRC

[Willopotomas]

I'm one of the 10%

[flatlander]

Yes but you have an unfair advantage in remembering

[BikerGran]

I'm in the 10% as well - only because we had to deal with the fallout of a family member dying intestate, and didn't want our kids to have to deal with that.

[Willopotomas]

Yes but you have an unfair advantage in remembering

This is true.. And a valid point.

[Viking]

Wow. 180 quid for a will? You guys are getting shafted, big-time.

I can wander down to my local post office, pick up a DIY will kit for about AU25 or so. Fill it in, get a couple of witnesses, and hey-presto. One legally binding and recognised will.

Which reminds me. I really, really need to get one done.

[Aladinsaneuk]

http://www.willaid.org.uk

[Obiwan Kenobi]

Doing a will makes sense, even if you have or think you have no assets.

You do it for personal reasons plus to ease the burden on your nearest and dearest after you've gone, as has been said.

Even if you have no real assets apart from a house that will go to you wife automatically, you may want to specify who gets personal stuff like jewellery/watches/rings/bikes etc. With money its usually best to say % than figures.

And you may wanna say how you want your funeral to be.

I have specified I want cremation then my ashes scattered in the middle of the magic roundabout in Hemel Hempstead whilst a troupe of dwarves dance round a miniature replica of Stonehenge (ala Spinal Tap) to the tune of "Another one bites the dust" by Queen. Maybe.

[wayno]

I'm not too far from Hemel, I'll come.

[Obiwan Kenobi]

Cool, Are you free next Thursday at 2pm-ish, and are you a dwarf?

[wayno]

Aaah shame I can't make it then, and dwarf is no longer an acceptable term to describe us, keep on like that and I'll send grumpy over to give you what for :)

[flatlander]

Speaking of which where is Tim?