Single, 35 and want to make a will - will solicitor think I'm strange?

Mimi2000

I'm single, 34 and want to make a will. I own a property as well as having cash savings. I want to make a will. I want to bequeath all of my assets to charity. I don't have a solicitor that I know well. So, if I call someone out of the phone book and tell them I want to make a will, how will they react, i.e. will it look strange for someone young to make a will like this? I guess I'm looking for personal opinions from any solicitors who do this type of work.
Thanks.

notabasicb

Mimi2000 wrote: »

I'm single, 34 and want to make a will. I own a property as well as having cash savings. I want to make a will. I want to bequeath all of my assets to charity. I don't have a solicitor that I know well. So, if I call someone out of the phone book and tell them I want to make a will, how will they react, i.e. will it look strange for someone young to make a will like this? I guess I'm looking for personal opinions from any solicitors who do this type of work.
Thanks.

Of course you should make a will. You have acquired property and assets and have every right to decide how you wish them to be distributed on your death. Not a single solicitor in this country will think you odd for wanting to make a will. Aside from that you are paying them for a service it does not matter in the slightest what they think.

Addle

If you have a credit union account, your credit union may have an agreement with a local firm to offer services relating to making a will for free.
Some trade unions can arrange that kind of advice too.

notabasicb

Maybe don't cold call any random solicitor - its to your benefit to find a solicitor you like. Perhaps a friend or family member who you trust may point you in the direction of a solicitor they had a good relationship with when making their will and/or buying/selling property.

Peregrinus

No, you will certainly not be regarded as strange. Commendably prudent for one so young, more like.

Pat Mustard

Mimi2000 wrote: »

will it look strange for someone young to make a will like this?

No.

Dandelion6

I was around your age when I bought my apartment. The solicitor advised me that now that I owned property I should think about making a will.

Victor

Mimi2000 wrote: »

will it look strange for someone young to make a will like this?

Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but your phrasing makes me feel a little bit concerned for you. Is everything OK?

If not, do feel free to speak to someone, perhaps starting with a doctor.

nuac

I know people who think that if they make a will they are going to die, like very soon.

It is far better to have a will made than to have some solicitor drafting it for your when you are at death's door, the priest waiting to come in, your doctor talking to the family outside the door etc

About Credit Unions, they do have the facility whereby you can nominate a person to receive your savings account. This facility was in the earlier Industrial and Provident Society legislation from about the 1870's. Those days few members of such societies had solicitors, or indeed other assets to will.

Many CUs have dropped the nomination facility as they have become involved in some disputes over those transactions.

All solicitors' advise on and make wills at a reasonable cost, unlike in the 19th century

Mimi2000

Addle wrote: »

If you have a credit union account, your credit union may have an agreement with a local firm to offer services relating to making a will for free.
Some trade unions can arrange that kind of advice too.

Thanks but neither of those situations apply to me.

notabasicb wrote: »

Maybe don't cold call any random solicitor - its to your benefit to find a solicitor you like. Perhaps a friend or family member who you trust may point you in the direction of a solicitor they had a good relationship with when making their will and/or buying/selling property.

I did consider this and got a recommendation from a relative for a property related matter recently. Initial advice was fine but then they gave me a really excessive quote for a small task (witness a document) so I won't be using them for the will.

Victor wrote: »

Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but your phrasing makes me feel a little bit concerned for you. Is everything OK?

If not, do feel free to speak to someone, perhaps starting with a doctor.

My father passed away recently and didn't make a will which caused a lot of issues. So, that's what pushed me into making one now.

Miaireland

I am sorry about your Dad.

A Solictor will not think it is strange that someone your ages has made a will. It seems quite sensible. Maybe ask your around your friends and family and see if they can suggest someone.

P. Breathnach

Just a heads-up: you should nominate somebody to act as executor and, at your age, perhaps an alternative executor or two (life expectancies being what they are).

I would be reluctant to appoint a solicitor as executor unless I knew and trusted that solicitor. Fees for such work are highly variable, and sometimes excessive. A sensible lay executor can get quotes from a number of solicitors and give the work to the one who offers the best deal.

Bagle

I don't know if this will be of any interest to you but you can make a will at dspcawills.com

From the website:

That’s why the DSPCA is proud to introduce this new, confidential and easy to use ‘Online Will Service’, including drafting, registration and support from a reputable solicitors firm. The service is completely FREE to everyone, with only the solicitor and yourself having access to your instructions – all we ask is that you include a bequest of no less than €500 to the DSPCA, payable upon your passing.

Personally, I would trust them for their good deeds.

johnnyskeleton

They wont think it is strange at all.

One caveat though, without getting into your circumstances too much your circumstances may change and you may have a partner, children etc. Make sure that if you sign a will now in favour of a charity remember to review it every few years. It was probably very difficult when your father passed but imagine if he had made a will 30 years ago assigning everything to a charity and then forgot to update his will.

Mimi2000

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Just a heads-up: you should nominate somebody to act as executor and, at your age, perhaps an alternative executor or two (life expectancies being what they are).


I would be reluctant to appoint a solicitor as executor unless I knew and trusted that solicitor. Fees for such work are highly variable, and sometimes excessive. A sensible lay executor can get quotes from a number of solicitors and give the work to the one who offers the best deal.

Good suggestion on the alternates, thanks.

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

They wont think it is strange at all.

One caveat though, without getting into your circumstances too much your circumstances may change and you may have a partner, children etc. Make sure that if you sign a will now in favour of a charity remember to review it every few years. It was probably very difficult when your father passed but imagine if he had made a will 30 years ago assigning everything to a charity and then forgot to update his will.

Yes, that's good advice and I will certainly keep it in mind in the future.

Serjeant Buzfuz

Pat Mustard wrote: »

No.

Entirely agree

nuac

These days most solicitors do not want to act as executors -too much responsibility re taxes etc

Sala

They won't find it strange at all. In fact some give the will for free when doing other work - ie property transaction

4ensic15

Make sure you engage a competent solicitor even if it is not for free. The solicitor who drew up my aunt's will made an absolute mess of it. There is unbelievable hassle trying to sort it out now. There are two generations affected and brother has been set against brother, niece against uncle etc. In all 17 people are involved in a mess that could easily have been avoided.

notabasicb

4ensic15 wrote: »

Make sure you engage a competent solicitor even if it is not for free. The solicitor who drew up my aunt's will made an absolute mess of it. There is unbelievable hassle trying to sort it out now. There are two generations affected and brother has been set against brother, niece against uncle etc. In all 17 people are involved in a mess that could easily have been avoided.

Families get torn apart by wills. Important to remember that the solicitor is recording what the person has decided. Oftentimes the difficulty stems from the deceased overcomplicating the bequests they decide to make.

4ensic15

notabasicb wrote: »

Families get torn apart by wills. Important to remember that the solicitor is recording what the person has decided. Oftentimes the difficulty stems from the deceased overcomplicating the bequests they decide to make.

A good solicitor would tease out exactly what the testator wants to do and then recommend a sensible and watertight strategy to achieve that. Too often a poorly thought out will is just written down and witnessed and the mess is left for someone else to sort out. A few euro at the drafting stage may save thousands at the distribution stage.

johnnyskeleton

4ensic15 wrote: »

A good solicitor would tease out exactly what the testator wants to do and then recommend a sensible and watertight strategy to achieve that. Too often a poorly thought out will is just written down and witnessed and the mess is left for someone else to sort out. A few euro at the drafting stage may save thousands at the distribution stage.

I think the OPs intentions are straightforward - he/she wants to leave everything to a charity.

4ensic15

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I think the OPs intentions are straightforward - he/she wants to leave everything to a charity.

Even so,
The o/p may need to be advised about the cy pres doctrine. The o/p may wish to consider a discretionary trust with instructions. If I had made a will leaving everything to CRC i would be changing it now. Even what appears to be simple may have issues to be considered.

Peregrinus

Plus, somebody intending to leave their entire estate to charity might be well advised to take legal advice about the possibility of a challenge from disappointed relatives. Are there any grounds for a challenge? Is there anything that can be done to reduce the practical risk that a challenge will be made, or the legal risk that it will succeed?

Victor

4ensic15 wrote: »

cy pres doctrine

What is this?

4ensic15

Victor wrote: »

What is this?

The reason why a solicitor should be used to draft a seemingly straightforward will.