Is it really possible to future proof your Will?
Yes and no.
No professional is going to tell you that you’ll never have to change your Will ever again.
However, if you incorporate a back up plan for each element of your Will, then at least if unexpected things occur, you’ll have something in place.
For example, you must appoint executors in your Will. A good professional will urge you to think through who you’d want if your first choice executors had already died or are going through a particularly challenging time at the time you die.
If you’re parents of young children, you’ll have to come up with a selection of guardians, to bring your children up if you’ve both died. And again, you will be encouraged to include your second choice, in case your first selection of guardians have died before you.
Similarly, you have beneficiaries in your Will. The people you want to benefit from your assets. There’s your ideal choice, then your second choice, and then what some of us call your “wipe out” choice, which is to be applied in the event that your immediate family are all wiped out, perhaps in some catastrophic accident.
The best way to future proof your Will, is to include as many back up plans as you are able to. This means that when someone dies unexpectedly, who you included in your Will, you don’t need to run back to your adviser to get a new Will. It’s already written in to your Will.
Naturally, none of us can make a Will resistant to divorce, fallings out or unanticipated marriage, but we can include second choices for most clauses in your Will.
Feel free to pick up the phone to the professional you’re hoping will prepare your Will, and chat through some of the scenarios which apply to your family. Jane is available to talk to you on 01727 840 240.