By Sarah McDermott, Private Client Paralegal
Making a Will isn’t as daunting as it sounds!
The first thing you need to do is to make an appointment with a solicitor, or other qualified legal practitioner, to take your instructions.
At this first appointment you will discuss what you wish to happen to your estate upon your death, and who shall have the responsibility of dealing with the administration of your estate and carrying out your wishes within your Will. The solicitor will need details such as the full names and addresses of all the people that you wish to include in your Will. At Onions & Davies, we offer these appointments over the telephone, through a video call, or face to face, and we will come to visit you in your home, where suitable.
Once you have given your instructions, the solicitor can create a draft of your Will, for you to review.
At this stage, you can amend your wishes if you need to, and the solicitor can alter the draft Will for you. Once you have a Will that you are happy with, and which does what you wish it to do upon your death, then you are ready to sign it.
Wills must be signed in the presence of two witnesses, who are over 18 and who are independent from you.
This means that they cannot be related to you or mentioned in your Will. You should sign your Will in their presence, and they also need to sign it and then print their full name and address, in your presence. Once your Will is signed in this way, then it is legally valid.
If you are interested in making a new Will, please call Michelle in our Private Client team, on 01630 652405, to discuss your options.