The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: RUSTYME on August 06, 2013, 04:43:40 pm
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The other day i text my nephew . The usual "how are you and the family " etc , then explained that i had been thinking lately , and thought that at 55 , since i own land , i should make a will at some time .
My nephew and his sister are like my own kids , i don't have any , so thought that if they wanted the land i would leave it to them .
It took ages to assure him that i am not about to kick the bucket , as far as i know anyway ! lol .
Can't afford to make a will atm , but needed to know if they wanted the land when i fall off me twig .
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Russ, its a good idea to be thinking about it while you are still in fine fettle. I am sure they would jump at the chance of your land and you of all people would hate it to go to the government.
This reminds me that my will is out of date and needs to be changed.
Does it have to be done via a solicitor or can we do it ourselves?
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I think you can get a form from the Post Office and write your own, but someone else is bound to know.
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Yes Sally , tptb are getting bugger all from me , alive or dead .
I hear totally conflicting info about wills .
Some say that only solicitors can really sort wills out and that diy ones aren't worth the paper they are on .
Who do you ask ? A solicitor ? mmmmm ?
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I've just been sorting out two estates. One made her will on a bought will from W H Smiths I think, and the other through a solicitor. At the end of the day they have to be witnessed by someone, so the choice is yours, they were both legal.
I would be inclinded to use a profesional as land is involved.
Most solicitors have a fixed fee for wills unless they are very complicated.
Do a.s.a.p. because it makes it easier for those left behind to sort and also your wishes have to be adhered to.
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In England TWO witnesses are required, in Scotland only one. This caused a rift between myself and my partner's brother as he just wouldn't believe me John had left a valid will leaving everything to me (I had paid for it anyway after his redundancy, but it was in joint names) Made no difference that there was land as well as the house and vehicles.
His stupid English Lawyer took a lot of convincing too. Needed three letters from my one to sort it all. :rant:
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Cheers Kaz , could do a diy one , but no money for a solicitor atm , or in the near future really .
Being a pauper does have it's drawbacks when dealing with the system lol .
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My will was done by my lawyer 4 years ago for £50.
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Not got 50p atm Annie , literally ! Any money i do get goes on feed etc .
I'll get my neice and nephew to get a diy will , and i'll do the deed as it were .
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Remember they can't witness but they can be executors.
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The 'executor' bit doesn't sound too good . Not once they are in the will anyway ! lol .
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You need to appoint an executor - that is the person who will carry out your wishes. It can be a partner in a firm of solicitors or a close friend - maybe your Bunny Boiler friend? :roflanim: :roflanim: They will need to be told they are executor. It's an honour, not paid. :innocent:
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You could try this:
http://support.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate/donate-money-in-your-will/free-will-service?gclid=CKH6me7A6bgCFbQetAodLRkAJQ (http://support.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate/donate-money-in-your-will/free-will-service?gclid=CKH6me7A6bgCFbQetAodLRkAJQ)
Everyone should have a will, especially if no spouse or children
Regards
Moel
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Thanks Moel , but i don't have any money to donate and i don't , nor will i ever , donate to charities , full stop .
I think it would be a tad hypocritical of me to use their free ? will facility lol , but thanks again anyway .
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Russ, if you read it you will see that you don't have to donate. I'm sure they hope that you will but it's not a condition of them paying for it. I think I'll do it. My last will became invalid when I remarried.
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I didn't read it mate , but i wouldn't feel right using their facility whilst being of the opinion that they are bunch of fiddling armholes .
I can get round some principles and morals , but others i tend to get stuck on .
Mind you , if i think time is running out , i could use them and leave them my old socks !
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I'm not sure if it happens all over the country but round here the solicitors all do wills for free for a certain week i think its in November, can't remember what its in aid of but might be worth seeing if something happens like that in your area.
Because OH & I aren't married we had a very expensive time sorting our wills out and got a will writing service involved because of all the complexitities.
Mandy :pig:
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We aren't married either Mandy and I don't have any children. The house is soley in my name but OH certainly deserves a share though for all the work he does here so i will be looking out to see if there is a free will week here too.
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Russ, I think what Mandy's talking about is Will-Aid (http://www.willaid.org.uk/). It isn't free, but it's still worth considering. I don't know if they accept donations of old socks though......
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Cheers Mandy , Womble , when i get some credit i will look into it .
Only got 23p credit atm and no money in the bank , well 64p i think ? , and a couple of small piles of change , 50p ish , wow ! , i am over the £1 mark , i am rich .
I have my own form of 'quantitative easing' , as i walk past the village shop i look at the ground , i usually find 10p or so lol . When i used to go into town i would walk around the car park and could easily find £5 . Ahh , those were the days .
I feel a song coming on .
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Try moneysavingexpert.com, Martin Lewis will most likely have this one covered!
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Free wills month takes place in March and Oct in England and Wales. Its for those over 55 (so Russ and I both qualify) but it only takes place in 20 cities throughout England and Wales. Those places won't be announced until Sept but you can bet your life they won't be near here :(
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Had this notification on the location of the free wills places. Nearest to me is Cardiff, about a 2 hours drive.
Luckily my FA did his yearly visit yesterday and it turns out he can do wills too. If mine was complicated I would probably feel happier with a solicitor but as it is fairly simple and no kids to leaves things to we went ahead and did mine.
Just waiting for him to send the completed doc through and then I will get my signature witnessed and it's done :thumbsup:
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well I got nothing to say, I had one when I was 18 and update it as & when it needs doing less than a year since the last time. When my son bought his first motorbike at 16, he got riding lessons, life/accident insurance & an appointment for a will to be written.
Nothing like planning ahead.
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http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills)
There is link there for the solicitors participating in October free wills scheme
I bought a form from WHSmith - don't think it was a cheap as it should have beem, after all its only bits of paper, but filled it in myself and got two independent witnesses to my signature. They dont even need to read the will just watch you signing it. But if I had know about this scheme I would have done it that way and given the money to my favourite charity
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I've found a few downloadable free wills online. If you want to, you can PM me somewhere to send a few copies and an example will to have a look at. It looks fairly straightforward to me. Just let me know.
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How did you manage that - I tried for ages to find a free download and in the end gave up and bought one from WHSmith which as I say seemed to be a bit of a rip off in my opinion,
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:wave: Hope you are OK Rusty, when I hear this song I always think of you, not sure why? Seasick Steve - Started Out With Nothin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Iam7JELDM#ws)
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I think I'm right in saying that in England or wales at the moment ... you could gift the land to them or sell it to them for a pittance . Unless it is prime value land for building or similar then it has to be of a sensible value similar to land registry values in your area . I think it has to be at least the value you got it at .
Providing you live for more than seven years after the event it will be free of capital gains tax to them when you turn your toes up and " really go off grid " .
If the land is the only thing you have, this might be a cheaper option but it will have to be registered to them which will cost a few bob as all and deals nowadays must have a solicitors greasy hand on the documentation .
This seven year thing is thought to be likely to be extended fairly soon to some thing like 20 years.
Most solicitors do a 1/2 hrs. free advice ..it could be worth seeing if you can get the free advice from one in your area.