Life insurance and writing a Will

Jono

Jono

Jono

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Northallerton/Harrogate
Hello,

I haven't a clue about these things. But I now find myself needing them.

Seems I can get £450,000 worth of life cover from about £16-25 a month. Does that look reasonable/average?

As for wills.. I have a number of assets, some large, some small... and no clue who to leave them to at the moment, so I suppose I should decide and get writing.

Do those DIY will kits actually work/are legal documents?
 
I cannot help you much here, but you're much better off speaking to your solicitor :) He/she would be much more informed with the proper legal avenues as opposed to a bunch of dudes on a forum. Your life insurance & will are extremely important so I would imagine your solicitor is the absolute best avenue to go down.
 
Thanks for the reply...

Problem with going to solicitor is that I've already spent too much on her this month :)
 
Is that summon guaranteed, or will it reduce as the policy ages?
Also is it guaranteed to stay at £16 or will it be re-evaluated every few years? When ins. companies need to raise funds, those that are up for review get hit pretty hard.

Also look to get critical illness included, although this will likely triple the monthly cost.

I got 250k inc crit illness for me and wife for £50, guaranteed payout and fee per month.
 
vonhelmet said:
My solicitor will do a will for £100ish - surely you can afford that for the piece of mind?
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The reason they will do it for £100 is because it's so bloomin' easy a spotty work experience kid can do it. Save yourself the money by a cheapo DIY kit and do it yourself it really isn't rocket science.

Life insurance is a tricky one, it's kind of like hoping something bad happens to you as it's the only way you will profit. Best bet is to shop around and check the small print as with any insurance policy they will do anything they can to avoid paying out.
 
Problem with DIY Will kits is that you might save yourself a few quid now, but you make a mistake and it will cost your inheritors thousands laters. There are enough examples of this if you read around. I really don't know why people bother with these
 
The wife and I have life insurance with critical illness with Aviva. Its only to cover the mortgage and so the payout goes down over the next 30 years. Its £74 a month because the wife has Non Alcoholic Hepatitis (her liver only works at 50%) and is a little overweight.

The critical illness part is what jacks up the premium though as it does cover quite a lot.

When the time comes for sprogs we are going to take out just a standard life insurance policy which is much cheaper
 
A little OT, say you are married but without any kids, you came into the marriage with a lot of assets.

Do you leave everything to your wife or some to your family also?
 
Life insurance if you want to provide for any dependents you have, professional health insurance if you want to protect yourself about being unable to work. They don't cost much, and give a great peace of mind.
 
Those DIY kits might be legal, but the problem is there could be holes and ambiguity in the wording that some assets might end up going to the wrong person that you didn't intend to and it would be too late then! That's where i see the problem lies.
 
a1ex2001 said:
The reason they will do it for £100 is because it's so bloomin' easy a spotty work experience kid can do it. Save yourself the money by a cheapo DIY kit and do it yourself it really isn't rocket science.
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You're right it's easy to knock together a will, it may even be legally binding but the problem is that if you don't know what each of the clauses means and the precise division of assets as provided for by law as inalienable then you risk either the wrong division of assets or if it is challenged it may be overturned and the provisions of intestacy will come into play. For the sake of £100 or thereabouts it hardly seems worth the risk when measured against the potential value of the estate - currently I don't have a will, I don't hold enough assets to make it worthwhile for me and perhaps as importantly I'm happy with the provisions of intestacy presently but if you do have assets where you care about the division of them then it's almost certainly better to just pay a little bit more for peace of mind.
 
I do Wills, Powers of Attorney and Advance Medical Directive for a couple for around £400 as a guide for you.

The life cover sounds about right in terms of cost, usually Norwich Union, Legal & General and Scottish Provident come up as the cheapest when I'm quoting for clients
 
booyaka said:
you can leave "your" assets to whoever you wish. It's up to you.
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A minor thing since Dr House isn't resident in Scotland as far as I'm aware but wouldn't The Prior Rights of Surviving Spouse (Scotland) Order 2005 potentially impact on leaving your assets to whoever you wish if you are in Scotland? I was taught that you could not circumvent these provisions in your will in Scotland and attempting to do so might render your will invalid either in whole or in part e.g. if you want to make a point about how little you actually care for your spouse or progeny then note in the will that they receive prior rights only and give the rest away - it can be effectively saying if I could give you less I would.
 
scorza said:
Problem with DIY Will kits is that you might save yourself a few quid now, but you make a mistake and it will cost your inheritors thousands laters. There are enough examples of this if you read around. I really don't know why people bother with these
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Moses99p said:
They're going to be relatively simple, especially with a simple situation... but if something goes wrong it can cause a World of pain. I don't think it's something to skimp on, tbh (considering they're so cheap)!
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Raymond Lin said:
Those DIY kits might be legal, but the problem is there could be holes and ambiguity in the wording that some assets might end up going to the wrong person that you didn't intend to and it would be too late then! That's where i see the problem lies.
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It is this sort of scare mongering that either drives people to solicitors or leaves them with no will at all. For 90% of people a simple will kit is more than enough very few people construct wills that are either complicated or difficult. It is money for old rope for solicitors as they will just get a junior to use the standard template bang you out a quick will and then bill you something silly after almost certainly including themselves among the Executors so they can make even more money when you pop your cloggs.
 
semi-pro waster said:
A minor thing since Dr House isn't resident in Scotland as far as I'm aware but wouldn't The Prior Rights of Surviving Spouse (Scotland) Order 2005 potentially impact on leaving your assets to whoever you wish if you are in Scotland? I was taught that you could not circumvent these provisions in your will in Scotland and attempting to do so might render your will invalid either in whole or in part e.g. if you want to make a point about how little you actually care for your spouse or progeny then note in the will that they receive prior rights only and give the rest away - it can be effectively saying if I could give you less I would.
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that is true - I was going to post that i was basing things on English law and not Scottish law but you beat me to it!;)

More information on Prior Rights here

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2005/20050252.htm
 
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