Blog
Individual / Wills Trusts & Probate
A will is the only way to decide who inherits your money, property and possessions when you die. Our will writing solicitors in Stockport help individuals and families across Greater Manchester, the North West and nationally to put clear, legally valid wills in place, from straightforward mirror wills to estates involving trusts, businesses and inheritance tax planning.
To speak to our team, call 0161 930 5151, email willsteam@gorvins.com or use our online contact form and we will arrange a confidential, no obligation discussion.
If you die without a valid will in England and Wales, the intestacy rules decide who inherits, and they rarely match what people expect. A surviving spouse or civil partner with children receives your personal possessions, a statutory legacy of £322,000 and half of anything above that figure; the other half passes to your children. Unmarried partners, stepchildren, close friends and carers receive nothing at all under intestacy, however long you have been together.
A properly drafted will puts you back in control. It lets you choose your executors, appoint guardians for children under 18, provide for an unmarried partner, protect vulnerable or disabled beneficiaries, leave gifts to charity and structure your estate tax efficiently. Where intestacy would leave loved ones exposed, and the only fallback is a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, a will avoids that uncertainty and expense altogether.
The formal requirements are set out in section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. To be valid, a will must be in writing and signed by the person making it (the testator), who must intend the signature to give effect to the will. The signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, both present at the same time, who each then sign in the testator’s presence. The testator must generally be 18 or over and have testamentary capacity, meaning they understand what a will does, the extent of their property and the people they might be expected to provide for.
Two points regularly catch people out. First, the temporary Covid era rule allowing wills to be witnessed by video link ended on 31 January 2024, so witnesses must once again be physically present. Second, a beneficiary (or the spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary) should never act as a witness: the will remains valid, but any gift to that person is void. These are exactly the kinds of technical traps that make homemade and online wills a frequent source of will disputes and contentious probate claims after death.
A well drafted will typically covers:
We have particular expertise in protecting the interests of vulnerable, young and disabled beneficiaries, and we work with local charity groups such as Mencap and The Together Trust, providing advice to the people they support.
Inheritance tax is normally charged at 40% on the value of an estate above the nil rate band of £325,000. Where a home is left to children, grandchildren or other direct descendants, an additional residence nil rate band of up to £175,000 may apply. Both allowances are frozen until April 2031, and any unused allowance can usually be transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner. As property values rise against frozen thresholds, more ordinary family estates are being drawn into inheritance tax each year, and from April 2027 most unused pension funds are due to come within its scope too.
Your will is one of the most effective inheritance tax planning tools available. Careful drafting can make full use of both nil rate bands, preserve the residence nil rate band where an estate might otherwise lose it, and secure the reduced 36% rate that applies when at least 10% of a net estate is left to charity. Our inheritance tax planning solicitors will review your position as part of the will making process.
A will is not a document to write once and forget. Under the current law, marriage or entering a civil partnership automatically revokes an existing will unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage or partnership. Divorce does not revoke a will, but a former spouse is treated as having died on the date the marriage legally ended, so gifts to them fail and any appointment of them as executor lapses.
You should also review your will after having children, buying property, receiving an inheritance, separating from a partner or starting a business, and in any event every three to five years. The Law Commission has recommended major reforms to wills law, including electronic wills and ending revocation by marriage, but these are recommendations only: until Parliament legislates, the current rules apply in full.
In most cases we can prepare your will for a fixed fee, confirmed at or shortly after your first meeting, so there are no surprises. The cost depends on the complexity of your circumstances: a straightforward single or mirror will costs less than a will incorporating trusts, business succession provisions or inheritance tax planning. Whatever your situation, we will give you a clear quote before any work begins, and we store your original will in our secure facility free of charge.
Gorvins is a Legal 500 recognised firm based in Stockport, advising clients throughout Greater Manchester, Cheshire, the North West and across England and Wales. Every member of our wills, trusts and probate team is STEP qualified or working towards the qualification, the leading professional standard for private client solicitors. We are also members of Solicitors for the Elderly and Dementia Friends, so we are experienced in advising older and vulnerable clients, including where capacity needs careful handling.
We listen first, explain your options in plain English and draft a will tailored to your circumstances, with a written letter of advice explaining exactly what it does. Once signed, we store the original securely free of charge and register it with Certainty, the National Will Register, so it can always be traced. If you also need to plan for the possibility of losing capacity during your lifetime, we can prepare lasting powers of attorney alongside your will, or advise on Court of Protection applications where no power of attorney exists. When the time comes, our probate and estate administration team supports executors and families through the whole process, with clear estate administration pricing published on our website.
To start the conversation, call 0161 930 5151, email willsteam@gorvins.com or complete our online enquiry form.
No, but it is strongly advisable. A will must satisfy strict legal formalities, and errors in drafting, signing or witnessing can make it invalid or open to challenge after your death. A solicitor will also spot issues a template cannot, such as inheritance tax exposure, blended family complications or the need for a trust. Unlike unregulated will writers, solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and carry professional indemnity insurance.
Your estate is distributed under the intestacy rules. A surviving spouse or civil partner receives your personal possessions, the first £322,000 of your estate and half of anything above that, with the remainder shared equally between your children. Unmarried partners, stepchildren and friends inherit nothing under these rules, whatever your wishes may have been.
Any two independent adults with capacity can witness your will, and both must be physically present when you sign. A beneficiary, or the spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary, should never witness the will, because any gift to them would be void. Video witnessing is no longer permitted: the temporary rule allowing it ended on 31 January 2024.
Yes. Marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes an existing will unless it was made in contemplation of that specific marriage or partnership. Divorce does not revoke your will, but your former spouse is treated as if they had died when the marriage ended, so any gift to them fails and they can no longer act as your executor. In both situations you should review your will promptly.
Most of our wills are prepared on a fixed fee basis, agreed with you before any work starts. The exact cost depends on your circumstances, with simple single or mirror wills costing less than wills involving trusts, business assets or inheritance tax planning. We also store your original will securely free of charge.
The original must be kept safe and your executors must know where to find it, as a lost original can cause serious problems. When you make your will with Gorvins, we store the original in our secure off site facility free of charge, give you a copy for your records and register the will with Certainty, the National Will Register, so it can always be traced.
Wills, Trust & Probate
