You absolutely need a Will! Contrary to what you might think there is no recognised legal status as a common law husband or wife. As such, you and your partner will be treated as any other cohabitees and would therefore receive nothing from each other’s estate, other than things like joint bank accounts or jointly owned property, which would pass to the survivor automatically. Without a Will, assets owned in your sole name would pass under the rules of intestacy and would be shared equally between any surviving children. If any children had died before you then any children they may have had would inherit your deceased child’s share equally. Therefore if you want to ensure that your partner and your grandchildren inherit from you on your death, the only way to do that is to make a Will. Take note though… if you and your partner decide to marry in the future, any marriage revokes previous Wills. You would therefore need to either make your Will in contemplation of your marriage so that it would not be revoked on that marriage taking place or you could republish your existing Will (or make a new one if your wishes had changed) after your marriage.

At GLC, we can advise you every step of the way and prepare your Will for you.

Not necessarily but don’t worry. A Will sets out your wishes as to how you want your estate to be distributed and by whom: it provides certainty and peace of mind. Probate is the general term used to describe the process that is usually required to deal with a person’s estate following their death, where the Will (if there is one) is sent to Court with a sworn statement and financial breakdown of the estate for tax purposes and a Court order is then issued to allow the personal representatives to deal with the assets and then pay out the funds to whoever is entitled. Whether or not your personal representatives will need to get a grant of representation to administer your estate (one type of which is a grant of probate where there is a Will and executors) will depend on the value of the estate and the assets that need to be dealt with at the time of your death. If you only have jointly owned property at the time of your death, or bank accounts with lower balances where the bank will close your accounts on a sworn statement and a signature from your executors, it is unlikely that probate will be needed, but a Will is still recommended to ensure that your wishes are met, and not left to the fate of the Intestacy Rules.

At GLC we can help your family with the probate process when the time comes. Our fees are competitive and fixed fees are available.