Probably the first time in your life that you should consider making a will is when you get onto the property ladder for the first time. Even if you are not married or in a civil partnership, you would want a say in whatever equity you have in your home. If your parents are comfortably off you may decide you'd like your estate to pass to your siblings or partner.



Moving on from this, you may decide to enter a long term relationship. If you're not legally attached by marriage or civil partnership then your partner won't get any share of your estate unless you will it to him or her. If you do take a legal partner, then this revokes previous wills and you will need to make a fresh one.

When children arrive it is important to make some provision for their care in the event of your death, by appointing guardians. If you fail to do this and a child loses both parents, then the courts will decide who should bring them up, whatever your wishes are.

Since the beginning of February 2009 widows or widowers of people who die intestate (that is without leaving a will) have automatically retained a larger part of the estate than previously. The amount that they are entitled to of their spouse or civil partner's estate has doubled. Whilst this is no doubt welcome, the likelihood is that it's their joint work and commitment that has built up the estate and they could still have to pass on a substantial part of their asset. If there are children, the 2009/10 amount which would pass on to the spouse would be 250,000 pounds, with the remainder going to the children, with certain conditions. The children would get half of their share with the remainder going to them on the remaining parent's death.

If a child predeceases, leaving issue, his issue will take his share between them. If there are no children, your spouse will get the first 450,000 pounds and half the remainder. Your parents will share the rest. If your parents have died, any brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces will share the rest. If there are none, your spouse inherits everything.

So if you don't leave a will and your estate is modest your other half will get what may be considered a substantial part of your estate, or all of it. Even if this sounds fine to you, it's no substitute for leaving a valid will. No-one likes to think of what can happen if you die, but what if you were to die together. If there are no children you could be passing on everything you've worked for to a distant relative who doesn't even know you exist.

The people most at risk if there is no will are those living with a partner outside of marriage or legal partnership. The result of this could be the partner being passed over in favour of the family. If there are no relatives to be found, the whole estate would pass to the Treasury and the "partner" could be left in a distressing situation. Making a will ensures that your wishes will be carried out without any delay, at a time when your family will need back up and most definitely don't need any hassle.