Simple question! Just about to start getting my will sorted and before I go to the solicitor and start it is there anything the TFF universe recommend putting in it that is not standard in a will ? Stuff that will effect my kids/wife ?
Or headache if no executors maybe can be given???The solicitor should ask you what you'd want to happen in certain unlikely events that you probably haven't considered.
Like you and your wife dying together (who looks after the kids?, what happens to the estate if the kids are still small?)
Or you all dying together ('a common calamity').
So best to give those kind of things some thought before you go.
Be wary about who you appoint as executor(s). Appointing solicitors can be expensive. Not as bad as appointing a bank though.
I’ve been executor for several estates and I would definitely say have a solicitor as one of two or three executors, they know how to go about the job and if there is a reasonable size estate involved including property then they are essential anyway as conveyancing, Land Registry, probate, HMRC when getting into IHT territory etc. The laymen can keep an eye on the solicitor, and in my experience their charges have not been unrealistic. There really can be a lot of work involved.
PS. DON’T appoint a Bank under any circumstances, they are dead slow and ridiculously expensive.
You don't need to appoint a solicitor as executor to have a solicitor wind up the estate.
Trouble there is most solicitors practises have a solicitor who specialises In probate and you only become familiar with them when needed and is not the one you would normally deal with for business mattersNo you don’t, but if you use a solicitor who is familiar with the family situation etc it makes life an awful lot easier imo.
Been there too often!
(This thread crosses into @Cab-over Pete ‘s thread on wills as well)