Signing a Will
At LegalWills.co.uk
we have removed the obstacles to writing a Last Will and
Testament. It is convenient, low cost, and simple. The
MyWill™ service steps you through a series of questions
in a "wizard" format. All questions are written in plain language, so you
don't have to be a legal expert to create your own Will. You simply answer
the questions, complete the details, and we automatically and instantly format a
document that forms the basis of a legal Will, customized for your local jurisdiction.
"I used your service to write a Will for my dear wife Christine who passed
away this year. The Will was easy to fill out and very straightforward. I never
had one problem arise because of the Will."--- Keith Sutton
Read
more testimonials
Below is more information about your Will, including
instructions explaining how to sign your Will and make into a legal document in
United Kingdom,
as well as information regarding how and when you should update your
Will.
Structure Of The Will
The Will has the following structure:
- It identifies the person making the Will (you), otherwise known as the
"testator".
- It revokes (cancels) all previous Wills, to make it clear that this
Will replaces any earlier Wills you may have made.
- It names the personal representative, called the
"executor", for your Will. This is the person who will be
responsible for distributing your estate (property) according to the wishes
outlined in your Will.
- It leaves all of your property to your executor in trust. The
executor, as the trustee of the estate, is given ownership of all of the property in
your estate after you die, but must distribute the property according
to the instructions in your Will.
- It instructs the executor to pay all valid debts, expenses,
claims and taxes on your estate.
- It tells the executor to give your beneficiaries whatever is left
in the estate after the debts, expenses, claims and taxes have been paid.
- It gives the executor certain legal and financial powers to
manage your estate, including power to keep or sell property in the estate, to invest
cash, and to borrow money.
- It names one or more people who should take custody of any minor children.
Printing The Will
The easiest way to print your Will is to click on the
"Download and Print your Will" link located on the main menu of the
MyWill™ service and save the PDF file on your local hard drive.
If you have Adobe Reader installed on your system (free download available from
here), you can then open this PDF file and print it.
Alternatively, you can print your Will
directly from your browser by following these steps:
- Before you print your Will, be sure that you turn off the text
that your web browser prints by default at the top and bottom of each page.
But leave the printing of page numbers on, or turn it on, because your Will must
at least contain page numbers on each page for it to be a legal document.
- For example, if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer select
"File" / "Page Setup..." and delete all of the codes that appear in the Headers
and Footers sections. Then enter "&p" into the Footer section to print the
current page number at the bottom of each page.
- If you use Netscape, select "File" / "Page Setup...", click on
the "Margins & Header/Footer" tab, and set all of the Headers & Footers options
to "--blank--". Then change the bottom "Center:" option to "Page #" to
print the current page number at the bottom of each page. If you don't see
these options, then you are probably using an older version of the Netscape
browser, in which case you should remove all of the checkmarks in the Headers
and Footers section except for "Page Number".
- Note that Safari only allows you to
turn headers and footers on/off, and they must be on in
order to obtain page numbers in your printout.
- Other web browsers will have similar options. If you
require more information, check the help documentation for your web browser.
- Before you make these changes to your browser print
settings, you may wish to write down their original settings so that you can
restore them after you print your Will. For example, the default print
settings in Internet Explorer are:
Header: &w&bPage&p of &P
Footer: &u&b&d
- You can then print your Will by clicking "View your
Will" from the main menu of the MyWill™ service.
Choose whichever line spacing option you feel looks the best and does not result in blank pages when
printed. To print, select "File" / "Print..." from the window which appears.
Signing The Will
In order to make the Will a legal document, you should first
print it and read it thoroughly. Make sure that it accurately reflects your
wishes and that you understand everything that is contained in the document.
Once you are happy that it reflects your wishes, you must sign your Will in the
presence of at least two witnesses, and the two witnesses must also sign the
Will, in the presence of the "testator" (yourself) and in the presence
of each other. You and the witnesses should also initial each page, so that it
is not possible to alter any pages after the Will has been signed. A witness
cannot be a beneficiary of the Will, they cannot be the spouse of a beneficiary
(at the time of signing), they should not be a minor (technically they can be,
but it is best avoided), and, like the
"testator" (you), they must be of sound mind.
For the signing procedure, gather the witnesses together in a
room. You should make a formal statement that you have gathered them to witness
the signing of your Will. They do not have to read the Will or know its
contents. They are only required to witness your signature.
You should initial each page in turn, in the bottom right
corner of each page, and then sign your name
in full on the last page, in full view of the witnesses. Each witness then in
turn initials each page, in the bottom right corner of each page, and signs the last page. Everybody must stay present
until all of the signing is complete. Each witness should write their address
alongside their signature, print their name below, and then add the date.
There should only be one original of the Will for everyone to
sign. Copies can be created by photocopy. It is therefore a good idea to sign
the original in blue ink, so that it is easily distinguishable from the
photocopies. Do not sign the photocopies, as this will create duplicate originals
which can be difficult to administer.
After The Will Is Signed
After the Will is signed you must keep the original and all
copies in a safe place, and let your
executor know where the original is stored, along with the "affidavit of execution" if you
have one. This can be done through the MyMessages™ service if
you want to ensure that your executor or particular family members remember
where your Will is located, or if you are reluctant to disclose the location of
your Will prior to your death. The MyFuneral™
service also allows you to document the location of your Will.
Although the unsigned version of your Will stored online at
LegalWills.co.uk
is not a legal document, if you wish you can allow one or more
of your designated "Keyholders®" to have access to the Will that you
have created here at LegalWills.co.uk.
Assigning Keyholders®
You should use the
MyKeyholders™ service to assign
one or more personal "Keyholders®" to your MyWill™ service.
A "Keyholder®" is someone that you decide to trust with
the power to unlock your wishes when the time is right. Each Keyholder® is
assigned a private, secure, randomly-generated "Keyholder® ID" which
they will use to login and access your wishes when it is eventually required.
You can designate up to 20 different Keyholders® and you can
even specify, for each Keyholder®, what specific information they can unlock. In
particular, you should give at least one of your Keyholders® the power to unlock
and access your Will after you have passed away. In addition to close
friends or family members, it is a good idea to ensure that your executor is a
Keyholder® for your MyWill™ service. This could be
particularly important if your legally signed copy cannot be located (for
example, if it burned in a house fire). In this situation, your
LegalWills.co.uk
Will can still provide some guidance to a loving family, as
they can understand how you wanted your property to be distributed.
With a valid Keyholder® ID, your Keyholder® can access
information such as your Will, health care directives or funeral wishes from
anywhere in the world after you have passed away or become mentally incompetent. Security mechanisms to prevent
unauthorized premature access to your wishes are also available and are fully
configurable by you. These are described in more detail in the help text
associated with the MyKeyholders™ service.
You must also let your designated Keyholders® know that you are
asking them to take on the important responsibility of unlocking your Will when
the time is right. At the very least, they need to know their Keyholder® ID
and the web address of this web site. You can choose to do this yourself.
However, to make this very easy for you, we recommend that you let us notify
your Keyholder® for you. There are 2 options:
- We can send them an email, customizable by you, which
contains all of the information they need to know. This is a free
service.
- We can send them a customized wallet card by postal mail
which contains all of their important information. There is a small
charge for this service, but it has the advantage of providing a permanent
physical record which can be kept by your Keyholder® with their own important
documents for easy retrieval. This option is also handy if your
Keyholder® doesn't have a known email address or if you have decided to share
a single Keyholder® ID with more than one person.
More information on creating and notifying your Keyholders® can
be found in the MyKeyholders™ service.
Updating Your Will
Your Will comes into effect only after your death and is
strictly confidential until that time. Throughout your life, you are free to
update your Will as often as you like, either by making an amendment, or by
drafting a new Will. An amendment to an existing will is called a
"codicil" and must follow the same form and structure of a full Will (i.e. it must be
properly signed and witnessed). Consequently, writing a codicil is not
usually much of a shortcut. In fact, it can lead to significant confusion.
It is strongly recommended that if you wish to make changes to your Will, that you
create a new Will and revoke and destroy all previous Wills. Each time you modify your
existing Will stored here at LegalWills.co.uk,
the MyWill™ service does just
that --- it produces a new Will that revokes all of your previous Wills. Never,
ever, make handwritten amendments to your printed Will.
Not updating a Will can be as bad as not having a Will at
all. Even if you feel that there have not been many changes in your life, your
Will should be reviewed every year on a routine basis.
Beyond the routine reviews of your Will, you should consider
updating your Will in the following circumstances:
- If somebody named in your Will dies
- If a major asset is purchased or sold
- If you remarry, separate, divorce or cohabit
- If you move to a new country
- If your executor or alternate executor no longer wish to serve
- If any new children are born, adopted, or pass away
- If any person named in your Will becomes seriously ill
- If your children reach the age of majority
- If you wish to change some beneficiaries
- If you wish to redistribute your property in a different way
After You Die
After you die and your Will has been
located, your executor will have to obtain an official document (a "grant of
probate") from the Probate Registry to show that they are the ones with the legal
authority to deal with the property. This document is also sometimes called
"the grant" or simply "the probate". Your Will operates from the moment you die, so
that an executor need not necessarily wait until all of the bureaucratic
processes are complete before any action can be taken.
The basic steps for the executor will be:
- Locate the Will, and check that they are in fact the executor
- Gather the assets and calculate the value of the estate
- Calculate the total amount of debt owed by the estate
- Prepare a formal account of assets and debts for the Inland Revenue
- Calculate any Inheritance Tax due from the estate and pay this sum to the Inland Revenue
- Probate the Will and receive the Grant of Probate
- Use copies of the Grant to release assets from any institutions
- Pay any debts and outstanding income taxes and capital gains taxes
- Distribute the estate to the beneficiaries including the residue
- Finalise the accounts
There is plenty of official literature available to your
executor to describe the process they need to follow after your death. If your executor is also a
"Keyholder®" for your MyWill™ service, then they
will also have access to specific step-by-step instructions which are made
available to them at this web site when they login to retrieve your Will.
Create your Will right now using the MyWill™ wizard
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