Ten tips for a perfect will.

1. Choose who draws up your will wisely
You can make your own will using a DIY kit available from the local stationers but the process is full of pitfalls and errors are easy to make. Lawyers make a lot more money sorting out badly drafted wills and dealing with claims against those wills, than they make for drawing up wills. DIY is OK for home improvements, but, unless you are extremely confident and knowledgeable, it’s not for wills.

2. Choose your executors well
Executors are responsible for executing your estate in accordance with your instructions after you have died. It is a responsible and demanding role, and can involve handling large sums of money and property sales. Do not forget to check that the people you choose are happy to take on the role.

3. Appoint a default or substitute executor
If you are married, you will probably want your spouse to be your executor, but it is best not to  appoint them as your sole executor. If you both died together in a plane crash or a car accident, neither of you would have an executor living. Always appoint a default or substitute executor as a fall-back position in case your spouse is unwilling or unable to act.

4. Appoint guardians
If you are the last living parent and you die leaving children under age 18, a guardian will be appointed by the court if you have not specified who this should be in your will. If you are unmarried but you and your partner have children, you might not even get guardianship of your children. If an unmarried man dies, his female partner automatically gets guardianship of their children, but if an unmarried woman dies, her male partner does not. You should appoint each other as guardians in your wills to overcome this problem.

5. Appoint trustworthy trustees
This might sound obvious, but if you are setting up a trust in your will or if your beneficiaries could be aged under 18 when you die, you will need to appoint trustees. Trustees will be responsible for managing and investing money, or looking after property until it passes to the beneficiaries, so make sure they are people with a good grasp of financial matters – and that they are still young enough so they do not die before you do.

6. Make specific legacies
If you want to preserve family heirlooms or items of special sentimental value, (for example, a grandfather clock, or a wedding or engagement ring), you should leave these items as a specific legacy to a named beneficiary.

7. Make sure you leave a residual legacy
The ‘residue’ is what is left over in your estate after you have made any specific legacies. You must specify who this goes to, as if you fail to do so, you will create a partial intestacy in your will. In other words, the small gifts and legacies would pass according to the will, but the residue would be subject to the laws of intestacy.

8. Save tax with a trust

Inheritance tax is becoming a burden for many families, particularly where the value of a property pushes the value of an estate above the nil rate band for inheritance tax. If you are married, you can include a discretionary trust in your wills, which could save your children Inheritance Tax.  However, you can now “roll up” the combined Nil Rate Band between married couples and if you already have “nil rate band discretionary will trusts”, you may well be worse off than before the law changed in October 2008.  You should review your Wills with your solicitor.

9. Sign your will
It is all very well having your will drafted, but if you do not sign it in front of two independent witnesses, it will not be valid. A witness should not be anyone left a legacy in the will (or this gift will fail) and should not be a member of your immediate family or anyone married to anyone mentioned in the will or a member of your immediate family.

10. Get it stored safely
Once your will has been correctly signed and witnessed, have it stored in a proper safe storage facility. This will protect it from fire, flood, damage, or loss.. Whatever you do – do not hide your will. Your will is no good to anyone if it cannot be found after your death.  Solicitors firms offer this storage for free and there is now a National Will Register which works hand-in-hand with the Document Exchange system and again, your solicitor will be able to advise you on this service.