Why Every Young Person Should Consider a Will

When I tell friends that I’d like to become a Wills and Estates Solicitor, they normally find it quite morbid. There is a common misconception that you only need a Will when you begin to think about death, but I think it is better to see it as a way of taking control over what you have built so far. If you die without a Will in England and Wales, your estate does not pass according to what we would consider common sense, it will pass under the intestacy rules in the Administration of Estates Act 1925.

Those rules follow a strict order, there is no consideration of who you lived with, who depended on you, who understands your business, or who you would actually choose. That might work for a very simple family situation, but it becomes an issue the moment there are unmarried partners, business interests, complex assets or strained family relationships. It is often younger clients, with growing but unsettled lives, who are going to be the most exposed to this.

The legal reality behind cohabitation

You can live with someone for twenty years, raise children, buy a house, live a full life together and, in legal terms, still be treated as strangers when you die. If there is no Will, an unmarried partner has no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules. The estate can pass instead to children, parents, siblings and other relatives in a set order. If a property is held as tenants in common, the surviving partner may even find themselves co-owning with their late partner’s relatives, or being forced into a sale they would never have chosen. There is a possibility for claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, but this can be a stressful and uncertain process. A straightforward Will can sometimes help avoid this.

The limits of Intestacy

Today’s finances also look very different from how they did historically. Now, it’s not unusual for an individual to hold stocks and shares, an interest in a family business, and various other digital or physical assets. The intestacy rules do not differentiate between an interest in a family company, a priceless family heirloom or a bank account. It simply divides value between people on a fixed statutory basis.

Recent reforms to Inheritance Tax relief also mean that advisers are increasingly encouraging families to gift or spread ownership of family businesses and other shared assets earlier in life so that more falls outside the older generation’s estates. While that can be sensible, if someone in that chain then dies without a Will, this can very quickly fragment ownership and, in some cases, force the sale of important assets to meet tax requirements. Without a

Will, you are effectively handing those decisions to a set of rules drafted by the government for a very different economic landscape.

Inheritance Tax is often thought of as something that only affects older, wealthy individuals. However, rising costs and values, especially in property and investments, mean more people are nudging into IHT territory than before. A well-considered Will is often the difference between a manageable position and a tax charge that forces the sale of assets.

It is not all about the money

Even relatively simple estates can create unexpected issues without a Will. It’s a document that can allow you to express various wishes.

If your children were left orphaned under the age of 18, while the court makes the final decision, it will pay close attention to your wishes, and a Will is the natural place to record those. Many people also place a lot of importance on their pets, especially those with horses, dogs or more unusual animals. A Will can specify who should take them and, crucially, can leave a sum of money to help with their upkeep. It is another way to ensure care of the animals is not left to chance.

Then there are personal items. Surprisingly, families often fall out over jewellery, artwork and other items that have far more sentimental than financial value. Writing a Will allows you to set out clearly and in advance, how you would like these things to be distributed. That is often far kinder to the people left behind than insisting they work it out together.

It also means that you can decide who you trust to deal with these affairs. Under intestacy, it is those who are a set to benefit from the estate that can take out the Letters of Administration and handle your affairs. With a Will, you can help alleviate the burden from loved ones who are likely already grieving, sometimes unexpectedly, by clearly appointing executors you trust to fulfil your wishes.

Don’t leave it to chance

Making a Will isn’t about being pessimistic or morbid. For younger adults with unmarried partners, alternative family models, savings, investments, business interests or an expected inheritance, the real issue is not whether they are too young for a Will, but instead whether they are comfortable leaving it all to chance. A Will, drafted with proper advice, can be a simple but powerful way to correct that mismatch.