Partner Kieran Bowe joined presenter Sarah Gorrell on BBC Radio Surrey’s ‘Sound Advice’ programme to discuss wills as part of ‘update your will week’. The discussion covered the importance of writing and updating wills, common mistakes people make and how to prevent potential will disputes.
Many assume that all assets automatically pass to a spouse, but this isn’t always the case under the Rules of Intestacy. Updating a will is especially important after major life changes, such as divorce or estrangement, to ensure assets go to the intended beneficiaries. While some worry about the cost of making a will, Kieran stresses that it doesn’t have to be expensive, although overseas assets and blended families (where a Life Interest Trust may be created) can add complexities. ‘Do it yourself’ wills can lead to issues if not done correctly. Kieran also emphasises the importance of informing loved ones about the will’s location and point of contact.
Not everyone is aware as to what the Rules of Intestacy provide for. In Surrey and Sussex, the values of homes are increasing all the time. On to the Intestacy Rules, its commonly misunderstood that your wife, husband or civil partner is not going to inherit the entirety of your estate if you have children. In fact, the Intestacy Rules provide the first £322,000 of value in your estate to a spouse of civil partner, and if you have children, the remainder of your estate is divided equally between the surviving spouse or civil partner and any children. Now that can cause potentially very difficult circumstances for a surviving partner and also may trigger, inadvertently, some Inheritance Tax (IHT) which may not have otherwise have needed to have been paid.
The statute that relates to the laws for making wills is dated from 1837, it’s nearly 200 years old. But under those laws, the will must be signed by the testator and must be witnessed by two independent witnesses, who should not be family members and, really importantly, they must not be beneficiaries under the terms of the will. Any beneficiary who witnesses a will cannot benefit under that document. The common mistakes we often see in homemade documents are a lack of certainty in relation to the interpretation of the will or, indeed, even if the will is clear in its intention, we commonly see that it may fail because either the testator hasn’t signed, there is only one witness, or it has not been witnessed at all.
The full conversation is available in the episode dated 6 March 2025 of Sarah Gorrell's programme, starting at 1:36:00, on the BBC Sounds website.
Kieran Bowe is a partner in the private client team advising on tax, estate and succession planning. He is an expert in lasting powers of attorney, enduring powers of attorney and court of protection matters.
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