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enquiries@hewetts.co.uk
enquiries@hewetts.co.uk
More than half of adults in England and Wales have no valid will. It is easy to put off, but a will is one of the most useful documents you can make, both for yourself and for the people you leave behind. If you live in the Reading area and have been meaning to sort this out, this article explains what a will does, what happens if you do not have one, and how to make sure yours is valid.
A will lets you decide who inherits your money, property, and possessions. It also lets you appoint executors, the people who will deal with your estate, and name guardians for any children under eighteen. A well-drafted will can reduce the amount of inheritance tax your estate pays and help protect assets for your family. Without one, the law decides all of this for you.
If you die without a valid will, you die intestate, and a fixed set of rules decides who inherits. These rules follow bloodlines and marriage, not your wishes. If you are married or in a civil partnership and have children, your spouse receives your personal possessions, a fixed sum known as the statutory legacy, currently 322,000 pounds at the time of writing, and half of the remainder, with the other half shared between your children. Crucially, an unmarried partner inherits nothing automatically under the intestacy rules, however long you have been together, which is a common and painful surprise for cohabiting couples. These figures should be checked before you rely on them, as they change.
The rules for a valid will are set out in the Wills Act 1837. The will must be in writing, and signed by you, or by someone else in your presence and at your direction. Your signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, who must both be present at the same time and each sign in your presence. You must be eighteen or over and have the mental capacity to understand what you are doing. One important trap: a witness, or the husband, wife, or civil partner of a witness, cannot inherit under the will, so choose witnesses who are not beneficiaries.
At the time of writing, no inheritance tax is due on the first 325,000 pounds of an estate, the nil-rate band. An additional residence nil-rate band of up to 175,000 pounds can apply where a home passes to direct descendants, and a married couple or civil partners can combine their allowances to as much as 1 million pounds. Anything above the threshold is generally taxed at 40 per cent. Careful planning through your will can make full use of these allowances and, in some cases, help protect assets. As always, verify the figures before relying on them.
Wills law is under review. In 2025 the Law Commission recommended a new Wills Act, including provision for electronic wills and an end to the rule that marriage automatically revokes an existing will. These reforms are not yet law. Until they are, the traditional rules above still apply in full, so the sensible course is to make a valid paper will now rather than wait for reform.
If you would like to make a will or review an existing one, Hewetts Solicitors in Reading can help you get it right. Please call us on 0118 957 5337 or email enquiries@hewetts.co.uk to arrange a confidential conversation.
Tim Butcher
Published on 19/08/2026