Free Wills: are you looking for a free will template?

If you want to get a free Will or a free Will template you need to get the basics right.

You must be sure it will be suitable for your circumstances and then complete it properly and then attest it (have it signed and witnessed) properly.

Here are some things to consider:

• Is it suitable for my jurisdiction (e.g. England and Wales rather than the UK)?
• Does it advise me on choosing executors?
• Does it help me appoint a guardian if I have young children?
• Does it advise on bereaved minors trusts (trusts for minor children)?
• Is there scope for alternative gifts if my chosen beneficiary or beneficiaries predecease me?

You may, by now, be getting a feeling of disquiet about the lack of professional guidance and/or the need for good, clear, solid information to take you through this process.

Make no mistake it is unlikely that anyone offering a free Will template on the internet, for the UK or anywhere for that matter, will have provided enough information and guidance to cover a full range of circumstances that might apply. In truth all of this responsibility is firmly on you to get right.

But the elements you need to know about and understand sufficiently doesn’t stop there:

• Does this Will template provide clear and unambiguous advice about the signing process?
• Does it give clear and unambiguous advice about who can and can’t be a witness?
• And how may witnesses are required?
• And where a witness should sign ?

This part is very important as it is the most problematic part of making a Will. More Wills are declared invalid due to mistakes in the attestation process than for any other reason.

So when you get enough information together to write your Will you still have the same problems and uncertainties to live with as you won’t know if it is any good for your purposes or even valid.

The thing is if you have the wherewithal to understand all of the above it is likely that you will also be worried about getting it wrong. If you do get it wrong the adnatge of ‘free’ will be lost. Your intended beneficiaries won’t be interested in the fact that you have saved some money, if they find out it was a “free Will” and you mucked it up.

So if you continue to seek your bargain Will template you should be aware of what you are doing and that you may miss things that are really important. This is because the one size fits ll approach of any free Will template will only deal with the absolute basics at best.