Leave A Legacy

Before you speak to a solicitor or professional Will writer, they’ll expect you to have a rough idea of what you own and what it’s worth.
All you need is a basic valuation at this stage. Don’t worry about working out the exact value of everything – as long as you have a ballpark idea of the value of your estate, that’s enough for them to get on with.

You should think about how much the following things are worth:

Property 🏠
Car 🚗
Savings 💰
Personal possessions, including sentimental objects 📦
Your pension 🎓
Any investments you’ve made 📈
Your business, if you own or part-own one 🏢
You also need to have an idea of any existing debts you have. These debts might include mortgages, loans and overdrafts. Again, this doesn’t have to be a precise value, but your solicitor or Will writer Will need to know a rough idea of the amounts. 💸

The next step is to decide what you want to happen to your estate, including who should benefit from your Will and details of any gifts you want to make.
Gifts can be anything you own and can take the form of specific items, cash amounts, or a percentage of your estate.

By making your Will you can make provisions for the age at which young beneficiaries receive their gift or share of your estate, as well as providing for beneficiaries with health or care needs.

You may choose to use your Will to pass on business interests: for instance you could leave shares in the family company to a son or daughter who has come into the business. This is a very tax-efficient way to pass on your assets.

You can also name family and friends who you wish to pass on personal items to.

After you’ve looked after your family and friends, you may wish to leave a gift to a charity close to your heart. The donation can be as small or large as you like.
The Army Cadet Force makes a huge difference to young people across the UK and by choosing to support ACCT UK you can be confident in knowing that every penny you donate will be spent helping both young people and adult volunteers to develop and achieve.
You will need our charity name, address and registered charity number to give to your professional advisor.

Registered Charity Number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 305962

Registered Charity Number in Scotland: SC039057

Registered Address: ACCT UK, Holderness House, 51-61 Clifton Street, London, EC2A 4DW

Another important decision is choosing an executor – the person who deals with your estate in the event of your death.
It’s important that you choose someone you trust. Ideally, executors should be business-minded family or friends, or a professional advisor.

If you don’t name an executor in your Will, or you die without a valid Will, an executor will be appointed by a probate court. It’s normally a close family member, but they have to accept the role.

It’s a big responsibility being an executor – that’s why people are allowed to refuse the role. The executor has to collect and make an inventory of all the estate’s assets. They can be used to pay off outstanding debts, so the executor must contact any creditors. Afterwards, the remaining assets can be distributed according to the terms set out in the Will.

You may also need to choose guardians for your children. A guardian is someone who is legally responsible for looking after your kids if you die before they turn 18.

If you die without a Will or without appointing a guardian, and there’s no other parent with parental responsibility, it’s up to the courts to decide what’s best for your children. Most people choose other family members as guardians.

We all have increasing amounts of digital assets stored online.
These range from email and Facebook accounts, passwords for online accounts, to digital music and photos. Many people don’t consider passing on this information in the event of their death.

But you can pass on your digital assets to family or friends when writing a Will. Take a look at the example digital assets listed below to help you consider what digital assets you own and who you would like to pass them on to.

Digital assets with financial value:
Digital assets with financial value 💻
Bank account 💳
Savings (e.g. ISAs) 💰
Share dealing account 📈
Digital music collection (e.g. iTunes) 🎵
Paid-for apps (e.g. smartphone apps) 📱
Online subscriptions (e.g. Netflix, online publications) 🔒
Online software and files 💻
Domain registrations 🌐
Computer games 🎮

Digital assets with emotional value:
Social networking site account (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter) 🌐
Online photo albums 📷
Digital music collection (e.g. Spotify, iTunes) 🎵
Content created by you (e.g. diary, blog, video, music) ✍️📸🎥🎵
Second Life account 🌐

Digital assets containing useful information:
Contacts (address book) 📇
Information such as traditional family recipes 📚🍳
Important household information 📋🏡
Personal emails ✉️
Personal letters saved on computer 💌

Make sure your Will is signed and witnessed correctly so it’s legally valid.
According to GOV.UK, for your Will to be legally valid, you must:

Be 18 or over
Make it voluntarily
Be of sound mind
Make it in writing
Sign it in the presence of two witnesses who are both over 18
Have it signed by your two witnesses, in your presence
Signing and witnessing your Will

When a signature is being witnessed, it must:

Be in clear view of the person and the act of signing
The Will maker (or person authorised to sign on their behalf) and witnesses must sign the same document
Any changes you make to a Will must also follow the same signing and witnessing process. You also can’t leave any of your witnesses (or their married partners) anything in your Will.

Witnessing a will isn’t simply a legal obligation. For a will to be valid it must be signed by the testator and their signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses. The witness must be present at the same time and must also attest and sign the will.

In Scotland, a will needs to be signed by the granter (the individual creating the will) at the bottom of each page. The granters signature should also be witnessed by one independent adult witness. Which in this case means anyone over the age of 16 can witness a signature.

New rules for witnessing Wills

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Wills Act 1837 was amended so that witnessing a will using video-conferencing technology has become lawful. The UK government advises that people should continue to use physical witnesses where possible, but for those shielding or self-isolating due to the pandemic, witnessing a will virtually is now admissible. The legislation applies retrospectively to any wills made since January 1st 2020. It is due to end on January 31st 2024. This may be extended or shortened depending on the public health guidelines. The law also applies to codicils, which follow the same criteria as when writing a will, such as having two independent witnesses.

Please note, these new rules do not apply in Scotland.

Once written, you need to store your Will. This makes it easier for your executor to find the Will and carry out your wishes.
Most solicitors and professional Will writers will offer to store your Will for you. Some banks also offer a Will storage service for a fee.

You can store your Will with HM Courts & Tribunals Service for £20.

Alternatively, you can store it somewhere safe and register its location with the National Will register.

If you want to leave a gift to charity but you’ve already made a Will, that’s not a problem – there are a couple of ways you can change it.

1. Write a new Will
The simplest way to include a charity is to write a new Will. Once written, any Wills you’ve made in the past become void. In fact, most Wills will start by reciting that you’re writing a Will and that you’re revoking previous Wills. Visit our guide on updating your Will for more information.
You can write a new Will with a professional advisor. Find a solicitor or Will writer near you. Ask friends and family for recommendations or search for a local professional online.

2. Codicils
The other way to leave a gift to charity is to write a codicil, which is a document used to make changes to an existing Will.