We cannot stress too highly the importance of making a Will. Family and personal relationships are now more complex than ever and the absence of a Will can cause significant problems and put the interests of both the immediate family and any business connections at risk. We encourage all our clients to make a Will so that proper arrangements can be made, avoiding unnecessary expense, for those who survive us on our death.
Under Scots Law, everyone over the age of 12 can make a Will and there are many reasons for making one. A Will is a single document, which appoints executors with the responsibility for ensuring that your possessions (your estate) will be passed to your chosen beneficiaries according to the terms specified in your Will. You may think that you only have a small estate and it won’t make a difference whether or not you have a Will, but it gives you assurance about your affairs and gives certainty to your loved ones who survive you. If you subsequently wish to make small changes to your Will, this can easily be done by drawing up a Codicil.
Dying without a will/dying intestate
In Scotland, if you die without making a Will then your estate is divided and passed on according to the laws of intestacy, and this may not be the way you wish it to be distributed.
For instance, your widow, widower or surviving civil partner will not necessarily inherit your estate in full, particularly if your estate is relatively large or you are reliant on savings or a life policy to pay off a mortgage. Another area where problems may arise is where there are children from more than one marriage or you own buy-to-let property.
Testimonials for our Wills and Powers of Attorney services
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for arranging Wills and Power of Attorney for myself and my wife.
We wanted to make sure that we received proper advice and that the documents would stand up should they ever be required to at a future date. You took the trouble to visit us when convenient and explained everything fully so that we could understand. There was no pressure put on us and when we decided to proceed, you arranged a follow-up visit to complete matters.
We were very pleased with your service and would have no hesitation in recommending Fergusson Law to friends, family and clients.
I’d like to thank you and the team at Fergusson Law for your recent help sorting out wills and powers of attorney for my parents and ourselves.
We weren’t sure exactly what we needed to put in place and you were a great help explaining the options in straight forward terms that we could actually understand. It was easy to arrange meetings that were convenient for us and your clear fixed pricing policy made it simple to understand the related costs, which we considered great value. Now that we have everything in place we feel much more secure in the knowledge that we’re able to deal with whatever may happen in the future.
Overall, we found you very knowledgeable and the advice easy to follow and I’d be happy to use Fergusson Law again and to recommend your services to my friends.
