The Importance of Wills for Women

Howard Burns, the Head of Wills and Probate at Manchester law firm Lewis Hymanson Small, says the marriage of Wills & Catherine should offer a gentle reminder about the importance of women writing a will.

According to research by insurer Standard Life, just over half of British women have not prepared a will. It's one of those tasks that we all know we should get around to but there always seem to be something more pressing or important to attend to, particularly for someone already juggling a career, a home and parental duties.

Many people procrastinate until it's too late. By the time they have the time and inclination to divide up the proceeds of their entire life's efforts,they're too infirm or mentally challenged to make a proper job of it. If they have displayed symptoms of senility, potential beneficiaries can legally challenge the will anyway.

Here are the facts:

• Nearly 65% of women aged 35-to-44 don't have a will in place.
• Around 40% of those aged 45-to-54 don't either.
• 33% of 55-to-64 year-old women and, unbelievably, more than 20% of over 65s are without a will.

The consequences of not preparing a will are far reaching for your family.

If you die 'intestate' (without leaving a will) the laws of probate come into effect. The taxman will get the first tasty bite of your cake and the rest will be divided up among blood relatives, roughly in descending order of genetic proximity.

Avoid family disputes

This is how long-lost relatives or remote second cousins suddenly find themselves in possession of a house, insurance pay-outs, valuable possessions or savings that their deceased relative always intended to pass onto their friends, partners or nearest and dearest. It's also often a recipe for serious family discord.

It's especially important for women to write or change their will if they marry - or re-marry. The probate laws lean very heavily on the historic status of spouses and first-born children.

Catherine Middleton, for example, became a multi-millionairess the moment she said, "I do".

If your plans for the disposal of your estate don't extend to your new husband or your children from a previous marriage, you should change your will to say exactly what your intentions are.

These days, of course, when so many women are part of unmarried partnerships and belong to extended families of children and stepchildren, the existing law can come badly unstuck. If you perhaps separated - but didn't get around to divorce - and have since had a relationship with another partner, your former spouse will still have a cast iron case for acquiring most of your assets when you die.

If you're a civil partner, for example, you may have shared your life and shared a property with a partner for years but you may find that you have no legal share in the equity of the property.

His wife will. Partners often presume they have an interest in their partner's estate but this can be called into question by a former spouse - or one of the spouse's relatives, who may be completely unknown to you.

Plan for the unexpected

The great advantage of having a properly constructed will, in writing, in your solicitor's safe, is that it gives the legal advisors and courts a clear picture of your intentions. These conditions may change dramatically if your partner dies first. Plan for all eventualities. There are cases of unknown illegitimate children of the deceased appearing out-of-the-woodwork when substantial amounts are being distributed. You can plan to deal with these eventualities.

Most women spend much of their lives accumulating property and possessions by hard work, endeavour and sacrifice.

Most don't want their lifetime's proceeds grabbed by the taxman or some undeserving distant connection from their past life.

The answer is simple. To remove any male bias from the legal equation, plan for your inevitable departure, no matter how unwelcome and tiresome the job may seem.

In an uncertain world, no one knows when their time will come.

Make your true intentions known by writing a will. It won't cost the earth but it could save your family, friends and legatees (even the cats' shelter) a mountain of legal costs and trouble.

You wouldn't want your family jewels to end up being auctioned off would you?

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