Published on 22/12/2021 & Updated on 25/01/2026.
Sitting where we do, in the middle of the bereavement journey, Life Ledger understands the importance of having a will in place. Wills are designed to help make your final requests clear. With it, once you have passed, the legal process that your family will have to go through to manage all of your assets will be far quicker.
Wills minimise the stress placed on your family by making a potentially distressing process as efficient as possible. Plus, it gives them the peace of mind that comes with knowing your wishes have been fully met.
Wills are formal legal documents, and, due to their sensitive nature, there are strict legal requirements for how they are written, what makes them valid, and how they can be carried out.
To help you keep informed about this legal process, we’ve provided answers to 5 of the most commonly asked questions about wills. For anyone who wishes to create a will for themselves, or who has just experienced a loss and is unsure what to expect from this legal process, here is some of the key information that you’ll need.
What Should Go in a Will?
When writing your will, you can include details like:
- Who would you like to name as your beneficiaries? You can name family members, friends, charities, or a combination of all three.
- Who would you wish to leave your home (or any other property) to? You might want to pass it on to your children, or split its value between your siblings, for example.
- Is there anyone that you have a duty of care for (including any pets)? You may want to ask that a close family member care for them after you have passed.
- Do you own any personal possessions that you would like to leave to someone specific? For example, you may want to give a special family heirloom to your sister.
- Do you have any specific wishes for your funeral? Like a favourite song to be played, or a personal request, like asking everyone to wear coloured clothes.
Different wills vary widely in their length and complexity. Largely, the complexity of a will depends on how many assets and beneficiaries are included.
Why Should You Have a Will?
Wills provide complete clarity regarding your final wishes. These legal documents help your family and ease their stress by giving them the knowledge that your wishes are being followed.
From a legal perspective, a will is the only way to guarantee that the right people will receive the assets that you hope to give them.
A great example of this is if you want to leave a share of your assets to your partner, but you aren’t married or in a civil partnership with them. Unless you are in a legal union, they’ll have no automatic legal right to receive anything. So, in order to make sure that this happens, you’ll need to declare it in a will.
Another key example is having any dependents in your care. If you have any young children, elderly parents, or any pets, you will naturally be concerned about what would happen to them if you were to pass.
With a will, you can name someone to become their legal protector after you are gone. Most commonly, this is a friend or family member that you love and trust. By adding this statement to your will, you can keep those in your care safe and give yourself complete peace of mind.
This clarity and the legally binding nature of the document are also vital to avoiding conflict. With a will, it’s far less likely that any confusion, disputes or legal issues will arise.
As you can imagine, this will be an invaluable help for your family during this difficult time.
What Happens if Someone Dies Without Making a Will?
When someone dies without making a will, the deceased is classed as ‘intestate’. This gives solicitors the power to pass their assets on to specific people, carefully following the government’s intestacy rules.
If the deceased’s property is valued at less than £270,000, then their legal partner will inherit everything.
If the estate is worth more than £270,000, the deceased’s legal partner will inherit the first £250,000 of their estate, plus half of the remaining value and all of their possessions. Then, the deceased’s children will receive the remaining value.
It is important to note that, without a will, only partners with whom the deceased is married or in a civil partnership are covered by intestacy rules. If they are not in a legal partnership, the partners will have no automatic legal right to a share.
If the deceased does not have a partner, then their children will receive all of the assets and estate. These will be split among the children so that each receives an equal share.
If the deceased has no children or a partner, their assets will be passed on to other family members.
This is an automatic process, and although it is designed to be a fair way to distribute assets, it could mean that your possessions do not go to the people you would want.
So, if you have specific beneficiaries in mind, any dependents or any valued possessions that you wish to leave in the care of someone specific, it is essential that you write a will.
When someone dies without a will, families are often left searching for information. Get started with Life Ledger to keep your accounts organised and securely store key documents in one central place to make the process easier for your family when you pass.
Can I Write a Will by Myself?
Yes, you can write a will by yourself.
However, this is not recommended if your will is complex. So, if you have a number of beneficiaries, or if you wish to pass on assets in a specific way, it is best to seek the guidance of a solicitor.
Although writing your will yourself could save you money, you need to be careful that you adhere to all legal regulations. Otherwise, you run the risk of your will being invalid.
If you would like to find out more about independently writing a will, you can visit the GOV.UK website.
What Can Invalidate a Will?
There are a number of factors that could cause a will to be deemed invalid. If this happens, then the will cannot be used by solicitors to pass on the deceased’s assets.
In this case, the deceased’s estate and belongings will be taken through the process of intestacy. Or, if they have written an earlier will which is valid, then this will be followed instead.
For instance, a will could be classed as invalid if:
- The signature is incomplete, incorrect or missing
- The will and its requests are not clear
- The will has been altered
- When writing the will, the deceased was not of sound mind
- When writing the will, the deceased was being pressured or blackmailed
As you can imagine, an invalid will cause a whole host of challenges. If the worst were to happen, your loved ones will, of course, want to be able to act on your wishes.
The best thing that you can do to help them is to leave things in order. Ensure that you have a clear, legally valid will in place, which thoroughly covers all of your requests.
So, don’t put off getting things organised!
How Life Ledger Can Help
Having a valid will is a meaningful way to protect the people you love. But even with a will, there is still a great deal for families to manage after a death, such as notifying organisations, closing accounts and keeping track of important information.
This is where we can help.
At Life Ledger, we provide a simple, secure way for families to manage the practical tasks that follow a loss. Life Ledger is a secure, easy-to-use service that allows you to upload and organise all of your important information in one place, from accounts and wills to funeral plans and life insurance policies, so that when you die, your family can easily keep track of, close, freeze or transfer everything from a single platform. Our aim is to ease the administrative burden as much as possible during an already difficult period.
Get started with Life Ledger today and help make life’s most difficult moments a little easier to manage.
