Many frequently asked questions about Wills are answered here. If there is something more specific you wish to ask, then please do so via email to feedback@totallyfreewills.co.uk
Q1. Is it totally FREE?
Q2. I’ve heard about these so called free wills paid for by charities that want a legacy. Have charities paid for this service?
Q3. Can I really trust the service?
Q4. How does the service actually work?
Q5. Why does the Solicitor store my Will?
Q6. Who can witness my Will?
Q7. Can my Will be disputed after my death?
Q8. What happens if I die without making a Will?
Q9. So, if I am happy with the rules of intestacy, I really don’t need a Will?
Q10. Is there anything I can't leave in a Will?
Q11. What if someone in my Will dies before me?
Q12. Do I have to get valuations and list everything in my Will?
Q13. Do Gifts and Legacies have to be of a certain value?
Q14. Can I gift to charities?
Q15. What is so important about the Executor’s duties?
Q16. I live in Scotland where the law is different. Can I use totallyFREEwills?
Q17. What about mirror Wills?
Q18. Can I look and see if my Solicitor is on your panel?
Q19. What happens if I want to use different Solicitors than the ones you allocate me?
Q20. What happens if my circumstances appear to be more complex?
Q21. What happens if I move address after my Will is written?
Q22. When can I have another FREE will?
Q1. Is it totally free?
We make no charge for any Will completed online. You will not be asked for credit or debit card details and you will not be sent a bill. Although we have made our service as flexible as possible, there are some circumstances under which it is not sensible to try and create a Will online. A few questions will determine whether you fall into this category, and if you do, we will offer to introduce you to a Solicitor who is experienced in making Wills to cover your situation. Such Wills are not free, but we do not want you to go away disappointed Therefore, we have negotiated a special £25 discount off any bespoke Will produced by our panel Solicitor, because we want everyone who visits our site to get something, even if we cannot provide a free Will. Just a few minutes on the create my Will section of our website will determine whether your circumstances are suitable for a free Will, or alternatively a discounted legal service. Return to Top
How can we afford to do this?
All solicitors can potentially earn fees from the administration of a deceased person’s estate (the sum total of their possessions). This is known as Probate and the fees that solicitors can charge for this service is regulated by The Law Society.
totallyFREEwills earns a fifteen percent referral fee from their panel solicitor for any of this optional, future work – but hopefully for you this will not be for many years to come!
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Q2. I’ve heard about these so called free wills paid for by charities that want a legacy. Have charities paid for this service?
No.
This service is totally independent and impartial. There is no pressure to remember anyone or anything in your Will. We believe everyone should be able to exert their free will, regardless of their ability to pay. Dying intestate can create too many problems for too many families that are left to pick up the pieces. Return to Top
Q3. Can I really trust the service?
Yes.
For hundreds of years members of The Law Society have been producing reliable Wills to suit individual circumstances. We have put together a specially selected panel of experienced Solicitors who are all backed by The Law Society. In the highly unlikely event anything happens to the Solicitor who has created your totallyFREEwill, The Law Society guarantees that another well qualified Solicitor will be able to take their place.Return to Top
Q4. How does the service actually work?
You can use our online service at a time and place to suit you. We guide you every step of the way to ensure that your wishes are translated into a legal will. You can even take a break for a few hours or even days if you get interrupted, your data is saved for you to resume later (but not for too long as we delete your data for security purposes if we think you have abandoned it).
For that short time of making your will, your data is stored in an encrypted data vault that only you can access with the password that you create. Once you have completed the process a will is created, checked by a Solicitor and sent to you for signing. Return to Top
Q5. Why does the Solicitor store my Will?
As you have taken the time and trouble to create your Will, the Solicitor needs to make sure that it is valid and legal. If a Will is not correctly signed and witnessed it is invalid. The Will must therefore be returned to the Solicitor once executed so that the Solicitor can check that it has been signed and witnessed correctly.
The Solicitor will then store this extremely important document safely and securely, without charge, and you will be given a copy. It can be easily and quickly retrieved by your Executors in the event of your death.
It is worth pointing out that other will storage facilities, including banks and the Probate Office, make a charge for storage but do not check for validity. Return to Top
Q6. Who can witness my Will?
There are strict rules about who can witness and sign your will. You must sign your Will or it can be signed on your behalf in your presence and by your direction. Either way, it must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who will then in turn sign the Will in your presence. Anyone can be a witness provided they are not a registered blind person or are incapable of understanding the importance and effect of what they are doing. Executors can also be witnesses. However, a witness should never be a beneficiary in the Will or be married to or be the civil partner of a beneficiary in the Will. If this were to happen the Will would still remain valid but legally the gift to that beneficiary cannot be made, no matter how insignificant that gift would be. Return to Top
Q7. Can my will be disputed after my death?
Very few wills are ever disputed; but a dependent may be able to make a claim if they believe that they are entitled to more than they received, or that they were omitted from the will without good reason, or that your wishes have been misinterpreted or misunderstood. Return to Top
Q8. What happens if I die without making a Will?
If you die without making a will you are classed as dying 'intestate'. This means that your estate will be distributed as per the Laws of Intestacy. In other words, the state will write a will for you.
For example, if you are living with a partner you are not married to, unless you have made a Will your partner will not get anything. Your entire estate will be shared between your relatives according to the laws of intestacy. Or, if you are separated and you die without making a Will, your ex-spouse may be entitled to make a claim. Return to Top
Q9. So, if I am happy with the rules of intestacy, I really don’t need a will?
Without a valid Will it can take months or sometimes even years to sort out your affairs. In the meantime your surviving dependants such as a spouse, partner or a child will have all the usual household expenses and possibly no access to any money because all of your income may be frozen until everything has been sorted out.
Leaving a Will can avoid unnecessary delays enabling your executors to release your assets to the people of your choice. Return to Top
Q10. Is there anything I can't leave in a Will?
It may seem obvious but you can't leave anything in a Will that doesn't belong to you! And usually this includes assets in three main categories:
PROPERTY. If you own property with someone else as 'joint tenants', then on your death your share will automatically go to the surviving co-owner. The share does not therefore form part of your estate and cannot be left to anyone in your Will. If you jointly own the property with someone else as 'tenants in common' your share does not automatically pass to the other when you die - and you can therefore leave it in a Will to whoever you wish.
LIFE POLICIES. If you have a life insurance policy you must check how your policies are written. The policy will usually be drawn up in trust and will not be classed as part of your estate when you die. If they are written specifying a named beneficiary then it would not form part of your estate but may adversely effect the Inheritance tax liability on second death.
PENSIONS. In exactly the same way as any life policies pension rights may also pass outside a Will (or end on your death) so they do not need to be mentioned either. Return to Top
Q11. What if someone in my Will dies before me?
If you leave a gift to someone who dies before you, then the gift goes back into your estate. Alternatively you can include clauses in your Will that distribute the gift to the children of the beneficiary (if they have any), in this case the gift is divided into equal shares according to the number of children. Return to Top
Q12. Do I have to get valuations and list everything in my Will?
Not at all. Wills are not shopping lists and you won't want to waste your time and money getting up to date valuations.
If you want specific objects, collections or even amounts of money to go to particular people, then you should list these. Anything that you do not list separately is dealt with through distribution of the 'residue' (literally everything else you have not already mentioned). Return to Top
Q13. Do Gifts and Legacies have to be of a certain value?
No, a gift can be any value you like, so that you could leave your best friend £50, £10,000 or your house. Return to Top
Q14. Can I gift to charities?
Yes, but you need to state the full name, address and registered number of the charity receiving the gift. All gifts to charities are TAX FREE – so they can be used to reduce any inheritance tax payable by your estate. Return to Top
Q15. What is so important about the Executor’s duties?
The people dealing with the administration of your affairs are called Executors, and you will need to name them at the time you write your Will.
Your Executors have complete power to wind up your estate and are required to complete certain legal forms and tax returns. They are personally liable for any errors or omissions. Until all of this is carried out correctly, any possessions and property held in your name cannot be released to the beneficiaries in your Will.
Any adult over age 18 can act as your Executor. But unsurprisingly, not many people want this responsibility, and few have experience of being Executors.
If you do not have two individuals who are prepared to take on this responsibility (you will need two Executors unless one is a lawyer), our totallyFREEwills panel solicitor will be able to carry out these duties for you. The fees charged by our Solicitors to act as your Executors are governed by The Law Society. Return to Top
Q16. I live in Scotland where the law is different. Can I use totallyFREEwills?
The law is different in Scotland. We are launching a Scottish version of our system in the autumn. Please come back and check our site again, or you should make alternative arrangements if you are in a hurry. Return to Top
Q17. What about mirror wills?
Solicitors have traditionally offered mirror wills to couples with identical, or mirrored wishes. We have carefully considered offering mirror Wills, but concluded:
- There is no cost to be saved as our service is free to you and your partner
- The time saved would be minimal as an online will can be completed so quickly
- Mirror wills would compromise the identity and security procedure that we have put in place to ensure the total privacy of your will. Your data security is our primary concern
- Every totallyFREEwill customer has individual access to the All my Wishes website. Like wills, this is totally secure for an individual’s wishes. Not to be shared with anyone.
You can choose to share your completed will and wishes with whoever you like. But to totally protect your personal data, we will not allow mirror wills or multiple access online. Return to Top
Q18. Can I look and see if my Solicitor is on your panel?
We do not publish our list of panel solicitors. Return to Top
Q19. What happens if I want to use different Solicitors to the one you allocate me?
Our system is designed to give you the choice of an alternative panel Solicitors if, for example, our first choice of appointed Solicitor has ever acted against you, or has any conflict of interest with you. All our Solicitors offer the same service under totallyFREEwills. Return to Top
Q20. What happens if my circumstances appear to be more complex?
Such Wills are not free but we do not want you to go away disappointed. Therefore we have negotiated a special £25 rebate off your first bespoke Will produced by our panel solicitor because we want everyone who visits our site to get something. This discount is paid for by totallyFREEwills from the fifteen percent referral fee it receives from the panel solicitor. This falls under Rule 9 (Referral Code of the Solicitors Regulation Authority). Before accepting instructions to act on your behalf, the solicitor will provide, in writing, all relevant information. Return to Top
Q21. What happens if I move address after my Will is written?
It is not normally necessary to rewrite your Will when you or any of your beneficiaries change address. However, if in your Will there is a specific gift of the home by reference to its address then, of course, the Will will need rewriting.
In the event that one or more of your named beneficiaries has moved address it is always a good idea to keep a list of the new addresses with but not attached to the Will as executors sometimes have to employ tracing agencies to seek missing beneficiaries.
It is also prudent to advise the solicitor who wrote your Will that you have moved so they can update your contact details. Return to Top
Q22. When Can I have another FREE will?
All users are eligible to update their FREE Will every twelve months. However, if you have a new child or one of your beneficiaries predecease you within this time period, please contact us. Indeed everybody should review their Will every few years to ensure that it continues to meet any change in circumstances.
It is important to note that users will not be permitted a new FREE Will where a previous FREE Will was sent to you but never executed and returned to the panel solicitor (unless alternative arrangements have been made with them). Return to Top