Why make a will? Seven reasons it matters more than you think

Most people know they should have a will. Far fewer actually have one, and the usual reasons are familiar: it feels morbid, it feels complicated, or it feels like something for later. Yet making a will is one of the simplest and most useful things you can do for the people you care about. Here is why.

1. You decide who inherits

Without a will, the intestacy rules for England and Wales decide who gets what. They follow a fixed list of relatives, starting with a spouse or civil partner and children, and they take no account of your wishes. A will lets you choose: a partner you are not married to, step-children, friends, a charity, or an uneven split between children that reflects their different circumstances.

2. Unmarried partners get nothing otherwise

This surprises a lot of people. If you live with a partner but are not married or in a civil partnership, they have no automatic right to inherit anything from you, however long you have been together. The home, savings and belongings pass to your blood relatives instead. A will is the only way to provide for them.

3. You choose who looks after your children

If you have children under eighteen, your will is where you name guardians. Without it, the decision falls to the courts, who will do their best but do not know your family. Naming guardians, and talking to them first, is one of the main reasons parents of young children make a will.

4. You choose who sorts everything out

Your executors are the people who deal with your estate: valuing it, paying debts and tax, applying for probate if needed, and distributing what is left. A will lets you pick people you trust and who are up to the job. Without one, the intestacy rules decide who can apply to administer the estate.

5. You can leave particular things to particular people

A will can leave specific items, such as a ring, a painting or a car, to named people, as well as sums of money or a share of the whole. It can also set out your wishes for your funeral, though it is wise to tell your family those separately, because a will is often read after the funeral has taken place.

6. It can protect your home for your children

Couples often want the survivor to stay in the home for life, but want their own share to end up with their children. A will can include a trust to do exactly that. It is a common and sensible arrangement, especially where there are children from earlier relationships.

7. It makes a hard time easier

Grief is hard enough without uncertainty. A clear, valid will tells your family what you wanted, cuts down the scope for argument, and makes the practical side far simpler. Families who have been through probate without a will rarely need persuading.

What a will cannot do

A will does not control assets that pass outside your estate, such as jointly owned property held as joint tenants, pension death benefits, or life policies written in trust. Those need their own nominations. A will also does not help if you lose the ability to manage your affairs while you are alive. For that you need a lasting power of attorney.

Making it happen

Making a will does not have to be a big undertaking. A conversation about your family, your wishes and what you own is enough to make a start. We visit people at home across Norfolk and Suffolk, draft the will around what you tell us, and hand deliver it for signing so it is properly witnessed. If it has been on your list for a while, this is a good week to cross it off.