Writing A Will - Consider A Letter Of Wishes

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 by: Steven Tomey

As Will Writers in London we are often making a Will for our customers to help deal with contentious issues.

What do we mean by that, well writing a Will and leaving a legacy to someone who perhaps an outsider would assume is not the natural beneficiary.

Excluding certain persons by means of a Will may well be challenged and upheld in Court.

Below is a list of certain persons who are most likely be given an award if they are believed to have been unjustly treated:

• Your husband or wife
  
• Any former wife or civil partner provided she or he has not remarried or has entered into a subsequent civil partnership, or an order of the Court bars any claim
  
• Any child of yours
  
• Any person not being your own child who in the case of any marriage of yours was treated by you as a child of the family in relation to that marriage
  
• Any other person who immediately prior to your death was being maintained wholly or in part by you
  

A Will tends to deal with facts and could be viewed as a cold and impersonal document which is devoid of emotion. The reason Wills are made in this way is to avoid ambiguity. The Courts will of course refer to the Will in assessing the claim but what a Will does not cover is the rationale behind the decision, and as the testator is obviously not there to act as their own witness certain assumptions might be made. The most likely is that there was undue influence and pressure applied by the beneficiary.

Our London based Will Consultants are trained to spot and anticipate potential problems, and as a standard practice we advise a Letter of Wishes is written and stored with the Will. It is also wise to issue a copy to the Executors for safekeeping.

What does the Letter of Wishes do? Well in the testator own hand it details the exact reason for the disbursement of the assets to the beneficiary, and why in their opinion this is justified. This Letter of Wishes will be read in Court and acts as a voice from the grave. From a practical point of view it also shows that this was a deliberate and pre-meditated act as it takes time to write such a letter. As it is hand written it also can be traced and accredited directly to the testator. And unlike, a plain signature it is difficult to exert undue pressure to write a whole letter.

As part of our London Will Service we can provide free Letter of Wishes templates to prospective testators to help them construct the letter appropriately.

If you are thinking of writing a Will do not leave the challenge of excluded persons to chance support the Will by writing a Letter of Wishes – it will help achieve exactly what you want. And hey, where's there's a Will, there's a way of doing just that!

Richard Stokes
Niche Wills in London | London Will Writers
Members of The Society of Will Writers
www.nichewills.co.uk

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