Expert: Make a will while you can

An expert has spoken out to say that people should make a will while they still have the mental capacity to do so.

Toby Harris, from Toby Harris Tax Consultants and The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) tutor for the STEP Certificate in Will Preparation, said that the whole probate process is simplified if people make a will.

He said that this is because if people live a long life and then lose their mental capacity before they have compiled the document, a court will have to make it and this will be at considerable expense.

Mr Harris also pointed out that when making a will people must ensure that an estate is not divided up into parts that exceed 100 per cent but that the whole of it is accounted for.

Otherwise, if it is given away in shares and these do not add up to 100 per cent, there will be a partial intestacy for the section that has not been accounted for and it will be subject to the laws of intestacy.

Richard Aston, who is a partner in the trusts and estates department of a law firm, also told Shropshirelive.com that if a person dies intestate and their relatives cannot be found their assets will go to the Treasury.

Published by Hannah Carr