Making a will is a subject that many avoid speaking about, basically because it is all about death or to be more precise – what happens after you die. But you can’t get away from the fact that unless you are one of the immortal few (me being one), you will eventually curl up your toes on this mortal soil. If you possess anything of value it is important that you make a will in order that upon your demise it goes somewhere or to someone of your choosing and no-one else’s.

Even if you have no immediate family or friends to whom you wish to leave something to, you may still wish to draw up a will donating your worldly goods to a charity or organisation you’ve been involved with at some time or another. Nobody it seems is happy with the government deciding upon how your property will be distributed, which is the assured outcome if you keep putting off making a will until it is too late.

If you are an expat living abroad, it is important you look into the laws of the country you may die in, because it could be that that will you drew up in the UK doesn’t apply to your present country of residence. This is particularly important if you have bank account/s or own property.

Wills are not that expensive to draw up, but as anybody knows, when solicitors are involved, even an hours work on their part will cost more than you’d like!! But there is another alternative in that you can make your own will, but there are pitfalls here which I will outline in a later section.