I started working in the area of wills and inheritance in 2010 following a previous career doing postgraduate studies in medieval literature. I decided to specialise in private client work because I could lean on my previous experience of studying and interpreting documents (and handwriting!). Wills are unique documents in that they are the final say in respect of someone’s property and can have a huge impact on survivors, both financially and emotionally. Few documents can have such a large impact on family dynamics and by their very nature, the author is not around to explain what they really intended. Therefore, writing wills in such a way that they are clear, easy to understand and still do the job they need to do, is a challenge. Although using precedents is an important prompt and time-saver, there is no one-size-fits-all approach and every client has to be approached individually and with compassion.
Without doubt, the Covid-19 Pandemic has had the biggest impact of wills and inheritance in general. Practitioners have had to adapt to the challenging situations during lockdown (and understand the new attestation rules around remote witnessing) as well as to a large influx of clients, keener than ever to ensure they are doing things right. The second major development (which will not impact all wills) is the creation of the Trust Registration Service which requires a significant amount of additional information to be gathered about trustees and beneficiaries of long-lasting will trusts, creating an additional administrative burden.
Traditionally, the law relating to wills has been slow-moving. However, I expect there may be significant tax reforms following the next general election (whatever the result) which will have a knock-on impact on best practice for drafting wills and advising clients. It would be a good idea to encourage all clients to review their situation and wills after the next election because what works now may not work in the near future. Even a simple change to inheritance tax may prompt significant reworking of wills, especially in relation to trust-structures and the use of the residential nil rate band.
Perhaps the most common misconception is the assumption is that it is a good idea to do your own will. Although anyone can draft a will, it certainly pays to have professional third-party input. As a barrister, I would often say I loved homemade wills because I would get paid a lot of money to interpret them and fix the problems they created – usually at a far greater cost than a professional will-writing service. Like a lot of things in life, you get what you pay for and an early investment can save a lot of money (and heartache) later on.
