Assets worth £175 million 'lost' from wills
Out of date wills forcing families to spend time and money to try to track down missing money.
Up to £175 million of assets could be left unclaimed because people struggle to track down their loved ones’ wealth after they die, new research claims.
A study by willsandassets.co.uk estimates that more than 175,000 people have difficulty finding assets listed in wills. And it can add to the cost of the probate process, with over a third of people spending an average of £2,250 on solicitors and other advisers.
Many people who have a will haven’t updated theirs to include everything they own. Only just over a third (36%) have updated their will in the past two years.
Do more than just make a will
Making a will and keeping it up to date is the best way to ensure your money and assets are distributed as you want. For more on how to do this, read our guide to Making a will.
It’s also important to keep records of any assets so people can easily access them. You could give these to a partner or spouse or other trusted family member to be opened when you die.
You could put them in the care of a solicitor, although bear in mind you might be charged for this. You could also store things such as share certificates at a bank.
It’s also a very good idea to make digital copies of all your important financial documents.
lovemoney's own Plans service, for example, allows you to store digital copies of everything from your will to your property deeds to your National Insurance number in one secure place. You can upload them yourself or send them securely to us and we’ll do the work for you.
If you keep your account up to date and include your secure log-in information as part of your financial information and/or will, your family will be able to see at a glance what assets you own. This could save valuable time when it comes to managing your estate.
More on planning for the future:
The cost of meeting 'life goals'
How to work out how much you need to save for retirement
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Comments
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Great idea, but once one has got all the information together, it would be easier to make a backup arrangement such as a NAS, or a USB external drive., and give your executors access to them, rather than pay £100pa, for an indefinite period.
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I have just filled out the probate forms for my dear mum. It took a little effort but I summarized everything separately then filled out the forms. I checked what I had done with my solicitor (30 minutes) and have sent off for probate. The solicitor said I was the first person who had ever completed the form outside of a solicitor or company. The Building Society would have charged me about £9000 to do what I have done, including 3% of the final selling price of her house. Some affairs will be harder than others but are people really being fleeced like this every time somebody dies? A few letters and a few emails plus a little time for valuations is really not worth that amount of money. It is also essential to write a will so that your wishes can be carried out. Promises made in life count for nothing when you are dead!
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26 October 2014