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Wills and Legal Rights

Writing a Will is one of the most important decisions you will make. It gives you full control over what happens to your estate and how it is divided up. It also means that when the time comes to administer your estate, it is a much quicker and easier process.

Writing a Will is one of the most important decisions you will make. It gives you full control over what happens to your estate and how it is divided up. It also means that when the time comes to administer your estate, it is a much quicker and easier process.

Writing a Will is not as straightforward as it seems, even where your estate is modest. Your solicitor will guide you through each part of writing a Will to ensure your wishes are accurately reflected in the document. You can discuss any special gifts or legacies with them. Only an experienced solicitor can ensure that your wishes are communicated clearly. This is particularly important when it comes to complex family structures or large or complicated estates.

The formal validity of a Will is vital in avoiding Wills disputes, which is why most people choose to have their Will drafted by a professional solicitor. If you do not instruct a solicitor to assist you with writing your Will, you run the risk of your Will being invalid. Common defects include using a pre-printed Will, not signing the Will on every page and Wills not been correctly witnessed. If your Will is not valid, your estate cannot be dealt with immediately and your family may end up paying thousands to rectify it.

Legal Rights

In Scotland children and any surviving spouse or civil partner have rights to an estate, known as legal rights regardless of whether a Will exists or not. Legal rights do not extend to unmarried partners or cohabitants. However, where a cohabitant dies without a Will, the surviving cohabitant can make an application to the court for a share of the deceased partner’s estate.

Legal rights do not apply to houses or other heritable property but only apply to moveable property

If there is a surviving spouse, they will be entitled to one third of the moveable estate if the deceased had children and to one half if there are no children.

Children, regardless of the relationship with their parent are still entitled to a third of the estate if there is a living spouse or one half if there is not.