How would you like to be remembered?

We would all like to be remembered when we die. This could be by having a tree planted in your memory or having a bench placed in a favoured spot. Perhaps you will leave a small donation to your friends; enough to pay for a round of drinks or a meal out.

Most people do not want to be remembered for leaving behind problems, heartache and complications but that is exactly what could happen if you die without making a will (known as dying “intestate”). Whatever your wishes may be they will mean nothing unless you write them down in the form of a will.

As a nation we are extremely bad at planning for our own demise. No matter what we do to pre-long our time on this planet, we cannot avoid the Grim Reaper when he calls. The Coronavirus pandemic has made many people face their own mortality and think about putting plans in place so that their loved ones know how they want their affairs to be handled after they have gone. However, surveys constantly reveal that two-thirds of the adult population have not made a will. This could be for a number of reasons; superstition that by making a will they will die, assuming that their affairs will be dealt with as they would have wished or thinking that they would have plenty of time to sort things out later.

To put this into perspective statistics from the Courts show that year on year more people commit intestacy than adultery.  This means that we give up the choice on how we would like our assets to pass; instead the rules of intestacy decide who gets your assets. The rules don’t recognise boyfriends/ girlfriends, finances, common law or cohabiting partners, but instead provides some rather unsatisfactory results; in 2019/20 over £21 million went to the treasury from people who died intestate.

Another consequence of dying intestate is that those rules do not include leaving any of your assets to your friends or your favoured charities. Many of us regularly support through the likes of payroll giving or regular standing orders/ direct debits. No other country gives more to charity during their lifetime than the British. Thursfields and its staff support six local and regional charities throughout the year and in these difficult times charities need our help more than ever.  At Thursfields we encourage both the making of wills and the gifting of legacies to charity.

Making a will is the only way sure way to make sure that the people that you want to benefit get what you want them to have and by remembering to include a charity in your will you will ensure that your legacy is a lasting testament to you.

Making a will need not be difficult or expensive. For further information about making a will please contact Thursfields on 0345 20 73 72 8 or email info@thursfields.co.uk

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