Making a will and planning what to leave

Before you can write a will, you need to decide who gets what.

Set down the basics of your plan for your property, money and possessions – your estate – early on, before you visit a solicitor, use a will writer or discuss with your family

Don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds – just follow this step-by-step process.

It’ll probably take you just a few minutes to tick off this step – you can even do it right now.

You might include:

• your partner or spouse or civil partner
• children and other family members
• friends
• charities.

These people (or charities) are called your beneficiaries.

You may also want to consider if there is anyone you do not want to benefit. But if you do leave someone out, and they expect to receive something or expect more, they might contest the will after you have died.

Start with assets that are easiest to value:

• savings
• valuable objects, like jewellery or heirlooms.

Then move on to the things that change in value. These will be harder to estimate exactly.

They include:

• property – your house, plus any investment properties, land, or even a parking space that you own. Remember to factor in the value of any outstanding mortgage or other loans secured against your property.
• your pension
• your business, if you own or part-own one
• stock market investments — shares, bonds & funds

Lastly, think about any sentimental items that you want particular people to have.

Whether you can include your pension will depend on the rules of your pension scheme. You can contact them to find out more about nominating a beneficiary. Find out more in our guide What happens to your pension when you die. It’s a good idea to check that your pension scheme knows who you want your pension to go to - don't just rely on this being in the will.  

There are broadly five types of legacy you can leave.

• “I leave £2,000 to my son” – this is called a ‘pecuniary bequest’. It means you leave a fixed sum of money.
• “I leave my jewellery to my daughter” – this is called a ‘specific bequest’. It means you leave a specific item which you own. The way to identify it will be to see what meets that description at the date of death. If there’s no jewellery at that time, then the gift will fail.
• “I leave half my estate to my brother” – this is a ‘residuary bequest’. It means you leave a percentage of whatever your estate is worth after any debts, costs, liabilities, legacies and tax have been paid.
• “I leave my share of my house to my wife if she survives me, but if she does not survive me then it will pass to my daughter” – this is a ‘reversionary bequest’ for your daughter. You can specify what happens if the person you leave it to dies.
• “I leave my share of my house to my wife for the rest of her life, and then it will pass to my daughter” – this creates a ‘trust’ over your share of the house. A trust allows you to say who you would like to benefit from your property immediately after your death (for example, your wife), and then who you would like to benefit from your property (for example, your daughter) once the first person you’ve chosen to benefit immediately after your death has died. This type of gift can easily go wrong, so you’ll need to get legal advice if you want to include a ‘trust’ in your will.

If your affairs are comparatively simple (for example, you want to leave everything to your husband, wife or civil partner), it’s likely you’ll just use simple residuary bequests.

If things are more complicated, you’ll probably use a combination. For example:

Mike is married with one son. His wife has a son too, from a previous marriage. He leaves:

• his share of his home to his wife for the rest of her life
• £1,000 to each of his grandchildren
• his watch to his wife’s son
• anything else in his estate to a charity.

June is divorced with three children and four grandchildren. Her son has mental health problems. She leaves:

• £500 to each grandchild
• half the remaining estate in a trust for her son for the rest of his life, to be split between her daughters on his death, and
• a quarter of the estate each to her daughters, but if any daughter dies before her, that daughter’s children will receive the dead daughter’s quarter share of the estate between them.

There is normally no tax to be paid if:

• the value of your estate is below the £325,000, threshold or
• you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse or civil partner, or
• you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to an exempt beneficiary such as a charity.

The allowance can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner if it isn’t used up on the first death.

There is also an additional threshold for your home.

The rules aren’t straightforward. So, you’ll probably want to get professional advice to help with this.

This is the person who sorts out your estate when you die and carries out the instructions in your will. You can choose whoever you like to do this job, but there are factors to consider helping you make the right choice.

Find out more in our guide Choosing the executor of your will.

Once you’ve worked through the steps, you’ll have a reasonably clear idea about what you want to leave in your will and to whom.

You might want to talk to your family about your choices. 

Your next step is to get your will drawn up, signed and witnessed correctly so it is legally binding.

If your affairs are very simple (for example, you’re simply leaving everything to your partner), you can prossibly do it yourself.

But if your situation is even slightly more complex, it's sensible to take advice from a solicitor, or firms that are regulated by Solicitors Regulated Authority, or belong to appropriate trade bodies.

If you want to avoid family arguments, both now and after you’re gone, it’s worth considering having ‘the talk’ with them about your wishes.

It’s your chance to explain what you’re doing, and help your family understand why you think it’s best.

Nobody enjoys having to talk about death, but here’s how to make the conversation as easy and conflict-free as possible.

It will help to focus the conversation will if you have a basic draft of your will, or at least some notes.

That way, you can talk about what you want, rather than have everyone else telling you what they want.

Nobody can tell you what to put in your will, it’s your decision who should receive what.

But be prepared for people to make comments or suggestions, either possessions you hadn’t thought about, or people that you might want to include or exclude. A will can be contested, so if you plan to leave someone out, or not leave them what they might expect, this needs to be clear in the will.

It can seem morbid arranging a special family meeting to talk about death.

If you think it’ll make people uncomfortable, don’t do it.

Instead, maybe try setting aside a little time during a family event.

Let your family know in advance that you’d like to talk about your will at that time – it might be a difficult topic, but by preparing them, it gives them a chance to think about things beforehand.

This is the time to set things off on the right foot.

Explain there are reasons for what you want to leave to whom and why. This helps your family understand your point of view, and gives people an idea of what to expect before you go into detail.

If you focus on what you want your legacy to achieve, rather than simply the pounds and pence, it can sidestep a lot of conflict.

Don’t forget to link these details back to your goals.

Try phrases like: “We agree that John will need support in future, so I plan to leave him half my estate.”

You might find that some of your family have specific expectations about your will – encourage them to be open about this so you can understand.

It’s your decision in the end, but others might have some good ideas about how to look after family and friends that you haven’t thought of.

They might also care a lot about a particular sentimental object.

Many things might happen between your conversation and the end of your life.

New babies might arrive or you might lose someone in your family.

You can change your will when these things happen. Reassure your family that you’re prepared to review and reassess as things change.

Not all family relationships are positive and discussing wills and inheritances can bring issues out in the open or increase tensions.

Make it clear that this isn’t about criticising people – it’s about what you want to happen to your assets when you’re gone.

Of course, some of your decisions might be based on who you like and don’t like – but saying so won’t do you any favours.

Instead, try explaining you have given it a lot of thought, and that is what you would like to do, but that you would consider alternative suggestions.

Again, this will be much easier if you are clear what you want to do and why you want to do it.

You can review your plan after you’ve had the conversation – it might have just reinforced what you want to do or it might have given you some ideas about changes you want to make.

After talking things through and taking your family’s ideas on board, you’re ready to go to the next stage and consider the options for writing your will for the first time or updating an existing will.