Why you should make a will

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Make a Will

Most adults in England and Wales have not yet put in place a Will, it’s estimated that between two thirds to three quarters of adults are in this situation. Here we list 10 of the excellent, pragmatic and not at all ridiculous reasons why this is the case.

  1. Writing a will probably means you will die shortly afterwards, maybe even immediately. Yes it might just be superstition, but why take the chance? As with healthy eating and exercise; making a Will is bad for you.
  2. All solicitors are loaded, it’s a fact; it says so on the internet. They make a packet writing Wills, far more than they make when an estate with no Will is disputed, ends up in court and exhausts the value of the estate.
  3. Making a Will often leads to putting in place a Lasting Power of Attorney. Thereby robbing your family of the opportunity to guess/argue about nursing care, health decisions and decisions about life sustaining treatment.
  4. You might not die. You could be the first person to live forever and won’t need a Will. Why risk jinxing that by making a Will, see point number 1.
  5. The government knows better than you anyway on how you would want your estate to be divided. Just because you have worked your whole life, paid tax and saved doesn’t mean you know any better than them. Governments always make great decisions with other people’s money, just look at the great tax deal they make with big corporations. So why not leave it to them to decide? If you are really lucky, your estate might pass to the Crown and you can help secure the Royal Family from poverty.
  6. Leaving people in the dark about your wishes is always best. All great dynastic families are built on secrets and mistrust. Let your kids fight it out when you’ve gone, survival of the fittest and all that, Darwin would be proud.
  7. Complicating matters for your family by not having a Will could be fun for them. Why keep things simple when they could have so much fun, whilst grieving, guessing over who gets the car, the jewellery or your other personal possessions.
  8. If you tell your children you have a written a Will they will immediately down tools and stop working because they know they are going to inherit your estate. Most people don’t want to work and even billionaires who keep working are faking it by turning up to work everyday.
  9. A Will appoints an executor who will handle the administration of your estate. This is bad as it denies your children the opportunity to debate who should handle the estate and deal with obtaining a grant of representation. Great families thrive on chaos and uncertainty (in addition to secrets, see point 6), don’t you want your family to be a great family?
  10. A Will appoints a guardian for young children, the person who will look after and care for them if you are gone. It is always a difficult decision on deciding who is best for this role, so why not leave it to chance (or the courts) and see what happens to your children. Hard decisions are best avoided at all costs and your children will understand when they grow up.

On the other hand, maybe not having a Will isn’t such a good idea. If you’ve decided that despite all of the obvious benefits (as outlined above) you do want to put a will in place then why not call our offices on 01695 574 201 or email our Michael Prendergast for further information or to make an appointment.