The questions to ask clients when discussing future plans and Wills

If you’re having a client review, you may well get the opportunity to discuss the need for a Will.

To help guide you in the conversation we’ve pulled together the key information and questions to talk to a client about:

Did you know making a Will gives you control over who inherits what, and when?

If you die without a will, your estate is divided in accordance with a one size fits all set of rules, the intestacy rules. Spouses or civil partners don't inherit everything, cohabitants/unmarried partners need to apply to the court to receive anything and the provisions for children from previous relationships could be problematic. Plus, the default position for children is that they inherit at 18.

Making a Will avoids these rules. Your Will gives you control and certainty over what will happen to your assets and possessions.

Having a Will also means that it is often quicker and less expensive to wind up your estate.

Do you want to ensure ALL your loved ones are looked after when you have gone?

Then consider the answers to these questions to get the best Will for you:

• Who do you want your assets to go to?
• When would they inherit - straight away when you die, or later?
• If you are married do you want to first leave everything to each other and then your children even if one of you should die before the other?
• If you have a ‘Blended Family’ (where you have children from a previous relationship) do wish to make sure that ‘all your children will inherit’ on death of you both?
• If you have been married before and now in a new relationship but do not wish to remarry would you want new partner to first inherit and then children from both relationships on 2nd death?
• Would you wish to ensure that the family home will pass to each other and then your family and not to creditors or the state?
• Who would be the executors in charge of carrying out your Will?
• Will they be around when you are not?

As an add on to that process you can also have a deeper conversation regarding additional future planning requirements:

• Have you thought about a Power of Attorney? To name someone to make decisions if you lost capacity to do so yourself, through accident or illness or simply just older age?
• How would you protect your assets if your beneficiary/s inherit and then are faced with claims by their creditor or their spouse or cohabitant?
• Have a portfolio of properties? Do you have plans in place on how to leave these to your chosen beneficiaries and ensure any income is still generated for them long into the future?
• Do you have children that you wish to provide for, but they may be unable to manage money themselves  and maybe disadvantaged by others?
• If you own a business, do you have agreements in place that say what happens if you or a business partner die?
• Do you have arrangements in place to ensure that the persons you wish to inherit any business assets will do just that?
• Would your business need to be able to continue to trade after your death without loss of profit etc?
• If you have an intended beneficiary how do you protect your plan from others who are disappointed by this and have a claim to make on your assets to thwart your plan?

 A conversation about making a Will can quickly develop into identifying a greater need for wider planning for the future for a client – providing you with a great opportunity to explore more services with them for cross-sell and up-sell possibilities. This can also help confirm your client relationship further for future needs.

If you need support in having such conversations with clients, or if you’re looking to expand your range of services just call us for a chat. We’ll be happy to talk you through how we support you at every stage. Call 01522 500823 or email enquiries@btwc.co.uk.

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