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So you’re looking into how to write a Will! Is that because you read my last blog and it convinced you that you needed one? No? Alright then. Could have just said yes and spared my feelings, but whatever. Makes no difference to me anyway. You’re wanting to write a Will. Good, that’s good.
You’ve got a few options. You could write your own Will from scratch. You could buy a DIY Will kit template. Or you could use a specialist Will writer, like Vital Documents. It’s up to you which one you do – I’ll talk you through them now – but before you make your decision, I’ll just explain how important it is to make sure your Will’s valid.
If your Will is invalid then it won’t be followed. Simple as that. Instead, your estate’s shared out following the rules of intestacy. If you don’t know what they are, just know they’re bad news. They’re a complicated set of rules that dictate how your assets are shared out if you die without a Will. You get no say over what happens or who gets your stuff. It’s just divided up according to the rules, like it or lump it, so it could leave those closest to you penniless.
If you care about having a Will, and obviously you do since you clicked on this article, you need to make sure it’s valid. Otherwise, you might as well not bother making one at all.
Can I write my own will?
Yeah, you could. You could literally get a piece of paper right now, draw yourself a Will up, sign it in the presence of two witnesses and technically you’d have a Will. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
You know what else you could do? You could build your own house brick by brick. You could grow your own vegetables to eat. You could knit all your own clothes, you could rear cattle and harvest your own livestock. You could be really self-sufficient and independent. But I’ve read Of Mice and Men. I know where pipe-dreams living off the fatta the lan’ get you.
No, I’m joking. Doing things for yourself is a lovely thought, but, if you’re not sure exactly what you’re doing, it’s a massive risk. Things can easily go wrong. And with something as important as a Will, you can’t afford to be making mistakes, like leaving anything open to interpretation. It’ll likely invalidate it. Nobody’s going to come knock on your coffin and ask you to clarify what you meant when you wrote an ambiguously worded line of your Will. Well they might, but you’re not going to answer.
Ok, say you did decide to grow your own vegetables, though. Carrots. You get some carrot seeds and you’re ready. You plant them, you water them, you think you’re doing a good job. Easy, this carrot growing business. But when harvest time comes around and you go to pull them out, they’re ruined. Even the bunnies are turning their fluffy little noses up at them.
Somewhere along the line you made a simple mistake. Maybe you planted your carrots in the wrong season. I’ve played enough cute farming simulator games to know that’s not good. They’ll wither up and die and you won’t be able to gift them to your favourite villagers. Maybe you planted them somewhere without enough light. Maybe the soil was too heavy. I don’t know. I’m not a carrot farmer. Much to the annoyance of every rabbit ever.
The point is, you weren’t sure what you were doing, you made a little mistake and now everything you’ve done has been for nothing. It’s the same if you decide to write your own Will. You can do it, but without expertise in the area, you could very easily make a mistake that could invalidate the whole thing. You might miss out vital information, or one of your wishes might be open to interpretation. It’s not really worth the risk. It’s so much safer to use a specialist like Vital Documents– that way, you know your Will will be enactable and your wishes will be carried out.
What if I buy a DIY Will kit instead?
It’s a bit of a compromise between writing your Will from scratch and getting a professional to help write your Will for you, I guess, so they seem like a decent option. There’s one pretty big issue with DIY Will kits, though. They’re one-size-fits-all.
Does everyone wear the same size shoe? No, because everyone has different size feet. If a company sold a generic, one-size-fits-all shoe, would you buy it? Would you risk looking like you’ve got big floppy clown feet? Or risk your pinky toe sticking out the side like a wayward cocktail sausage? Probably not. Why do it with a Will?
Literally every person in the entire world has different personal circumstances. Every single person. While you could get a one-size-fits-all DIY Will kit, it’s probably not going to fit your specific personal circumstances. You never know, you might get lucky. You might find the glass slipper of DIY Will kits. But just keep in mind that every girl in the kingdom tried on the glass slipper and it only fit Cinderella. And, if you ask me, she was the unlucky one. How uncomfy would a glass slipper be?
I’m rambling a bit. If you use a DIY Will kit and it doesn’t fit your circumstances, if it doesn’t cover all your assets or it leaves things ambiguous or open to interpretation, then your Will’s probably going to be made invalid. When you use Vital Documents, we customise your Will to suit your exact circumstances. We work with you individually to make sure it’ll be perfect for your needs. Why not have a look at how we can help you right now?
Why should I use a specialist like Vital Documents?
Because we’re amazing and we can sort you a Will that’s perfect for you! No, just kidding. Well, I’m not kidding at all, that’s 100% true. But I will give you a bit more detail so you don’t just have to take my word for it. Unbiased though it may be.
So far in this article I’ve basically been trash-talking other methods of writing a Will. That’s not just because I’m a negative ninny. It’s genuinely in your best interests. I don’t want you to write an invalid Will. The rules of intestacy are, like, my arch-nemesis, because I think everyone should get to choose what happens to their assets when they die. Since you’re reading an article titled ‘How to write a Will’, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you agree.
The best way to make sure your Will is valid and you won’t run into any issues is to use a specialist, like us here at Vital Documents. With our Bespoke Will service, we’ll work with you to create the perfect Will for your circumstances. You’ll be speaking to one of our expert Will Writers (who, by the way, are trained members of The Society of Will Writers) who’ll provide you with up-to-date advice on the best ways to get the most out of your assets.
They’ll go through the Will with you, covering all bases, guiding you and helping you make your Will airtight. That’s not all though, oh no. With a Bespoke Will, you can even build a Trust into your Will. If you aren’t sure what that means, have a look at our Trusts page. Why not get yourself over to our Bespoke Wills page now to see how we can help you?
Quick recap
So, for writing a Will, they’re your main choices. Obviously, I’d recommend using Vital Documents. It’s the safest option, because by using a specialist you minimise the risk of mistakes. You can write your own, or use a kit, but you have to be 100% confident that you’ve not missed anything out, written anything incorrectly, or left anything ambiguous. If you aren’t 100% confident, visit our site and see what we can do for you.