The Society of Will Writers and its team are often interviewed by news and media organisations to help the consumer understand the importance of writing a Will and having it created by the right person or organisation. Today sees our Communications Manager Tom Stansfield’s recent interview with ProtectWealth.com understanding the importance of protecting your assets.
Expert Interview Series: Tom Stansfield of The Society on Protecting Your Assets in Your Will
Tom Stansfield is Head of Communication and Marketing for the Society of Will Writers.
We recently asked for Tom’s insight on writing a will, including things to remember when crafting your will and how to best protect your assets. Here’s what he shared:
Tell us the story behind the Society of Will Writers. What is your mission?
The Society of Will Writers was set up in 1994 by five professional will writers, one of who is the current Director General, Brian W. McMillan.
The Society of Will Writers is a nonprofit, self-regulatory organization that seeks to protect the public and serve the interests of those men and women who are active professionals in our field.
To promote to the public at large the real need and sense in having a valid Will; and to act as a self-regulatory body by vetting practitioners through stringent membership requirements, proficiency standards and on-going training.
At what point in life should an individual consider writing a will? When is the best time?
I suppose that this is all circumstantial but the fact is that any adult in England and Wales can write a Will providing they have the capacity to do so. This means that from the age of 18 it should be a consideration. We know that 18 year olds have better things to do with their time and money than write a Will and I think that this is shown by statistics from the ONS when they tell us that 67 percent of the U.K. adult population don’t have a valid Will.
We should all consider our estate planning whenever we have something of value (whether personal or monetary) that we would like to leave to someone specific. If there is a ‘best time’ to write a Will it would probably be following a life-changing event; like losing a loved one, having a baby or buying a house because these events cause an even greater need to plan for the future.
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