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Wills

We are here to offer you specialist advice on making or reviewing a will. Meet our team of experts to provide you with a tailor made service to assist you. At GLC we have experienced lawyers who are specialists in this area of law.


At GLC we understand how much you love your family and want to plan for a time when you are no longer here to help and support them. You also want to make sure that they get to benefit financially from your Estate on death. Estate planning is important where you have sizeable assets to leave. Will planning is key to ensuring that everyone important to you will be looked after both physically and financially after you have passed away.

Whether it is specific items, a particular property or money that you wish to leave, a Will is the only way to be certain of your wishes being carried out. If you are the formal guardian of a child, it is also possible for you to express in your Will who you wish to be appointed as successive guardians of your child until they become adults themselves.

If you were to die intestate (without leaving a Will) it would be down to the Intestacy Rules (the order in which your relatives inherit your property, as set out by law, in the absence of a valid Will) as to who would inherit your estate and in what shares. If you were to die leaving a surviving spouse and surviving children, others won’t inherit anything from you.

At GLC we can advise you on your individual circumstances, and answer any specific questions you may have as part of the process of making your Will. We also help you to consider the tax implications of carrying out your wishes, paying particular attention to Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax, where required.

A member of our specialist team will assist you from start to finish, and make sure that you have thought through all possible scenarios to give you peace of mind. We are also transparent about costs and will also quote you a fixed fee for preparing your Will after our initial consultation.


Frequently Asked Questions

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.


Advice

We believe in making access to the right advice as simple as possible. Often, we can make a real difference in a single or planned series of phone advice sessions. Call today to speak to our enquiry team for a free initial consultation.


Our Team

Lynsey Bashforth

Partner
Lynsey Bashforth is a Solicitor who joined Ridley & Hall in July 2019. Lynsey was the sole director of Bashforth-Young Solicitor until it was acquired by Ridley & Hall in 2019. Bashforth-Young Solicitor was a boutique specialist Wills & Probate firm located in South Elmsall Pontefract. Lynsey still works out of the South Elmsall offices where she established the practice and where all services of Ridley and Hall can now be provided to the community....

Deborah Kaye

Associate Solicitor
Deborah Kaye joined the firm’s Private Client Team in July 2019, to contribute to the growth of that department. She brings with her a wealth of experience, having worked in this area of the law for over 20 years. Deborah previously had strong connections in the Holme Valley where she practised for many years and has welcomed the opportunity to work again in Huddersfield, having spent a few years working for a large multi-discipline firm in Bradford most recently....
Thomas Grice

Thomas Grice

Solicitor
Tom is a solicitor who joined Ridley & Hall in May 2021. Tom has joined Ridley & Hall from a multi discipline firm in Wakefield, having previously worked in Knaresborough and at a nationwide firm in Wakefield.  Previous to this Tom undertook his Law Degree at the University of Bradford and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School, achieving a Distinction....
Hannah Pedley

Hannah Pedley

Associate Solicitor
Hannah is an Affiliate member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and is undergoing further qualification in pursuit of attaining her full membership and becoming a recognised Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP). She has handled a variety of different matters and the feedback received from clients has always been extremely positive....
Andrew Gullett

Andrew Gullett

Solicitor
Andrew qualified as a Solicitor in 2001 and has specialised in older client law since 2005. He is delighted to have joined our Private Client Team in Huddersfield in October 2021, having previously worked at a small firm in Wakefield...

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