Simple Will

What it is

One document that cancels any earlier Will, appoints the people who will deal with your estate, names guardians for children under 18, makes any specific gifts you want, and says who receives the rest.

Mirror Wills are two near identical Wills for a couple, each leaving everything to the other and then on to the same people.

How it works

• We take your instructions, prepare a draft, and go through it with you line by line before anything is signed.
• Signing has to follow section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. Your two witnesses must be together when you sign, and neither they nor their husband, wife or civil partner may benefit. A gift to a witness is void, even though the Will itself stays valid.
• It only takes effect on death. You can change it or replace it at any time while you have capacity.
• Marriage or civil partnership cancels an existing Will automatically, unless the Will was made in expectation of that particular marriage.
• Divorce does not cancel a Will. It treats your former husband, wife or civil partner as having died before you, which can leave your estate going somewhere you never intended.

What happens if you do nothing

The intestacy rules decide, and they are blunt. Where there are children, a surviving husband, wife or civil partner takes the personal belongings, a fixed sum of £322,000, and half of what is left. The children take the other half at 18. An unmarried partner receives nothing at all, however long you were together, and is left to bring a court claim to be provided for. A husband, wife or civil partner also has to survive you by 28 days to inherit.

Where specialist advice matters

A simple Will suits a great many households. It stops being the right answer when any of this applies:

• A second marriage, stepchildren, or children from more than one relationship.
• An unmarried partner, who inherits nothing on intestacy and has no automatic protection.
• A beneficiary who is under 18, disabled, receiving means tested benefits, in debt, or going through a divorce.
• Business or agricultural assets, where valuable reliefs are available but can be lost by careless drafting.
• Assets or a domicile connected to another country.
• Anyone who might bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• Any doubt at all about capacity, where a contemporaneous medical opinion may be needed to protect the Will from a later challenge.

One point people are rarely told: mirror Wills are not mutual Wills. They do not bind the survivor, who is free to make a completely new Will afterwards and leave everything elsewhere. If that troubles you, say so at the consultation. It is one of the main reasons couples look at a trust based Will instead.