Last week, I wrote about the importance of leaving a valid Will…. so that the people you want to benefit from your estate, do. Personally, I hope that any Will I have won’t be needed for a long while, but you never know what might happen. So yesterday, I met with Gordon from Asset Guardian Company Limited to begin drafting mine. On a daily basis, we work with clients whose ancestors have failed to sit down with Gordon (other Gordon’s are probably available, though if you live in Wiltshire, I would highly recommend getting in touch with this one) so I thought, it’s about time to put something down in writing in case something happens to me.
I had considered two options prior to Gordon’s arrival: (a) if I go before my parents and (b) if they go before me. So at least I had the answer to those questions…. but then I realised that I needed to consider specific bequests. What should happen to my saxophones? And who should inherit all the family history research I have done? Well, that’s when it starts to get complicated.
I don’t have any siblings so I don’t have anyone who shares all my ancestry. In fact, I don’t have any cousins on my father’s side who share the same grandparents. In fact, when you subtract the estranged members of the family, I don’t have any cousins on my mother’s side who share the same grandparents either. So, splitting my family history becomes rather complicated. One quarter to A, one quarter to B, one quarter to C and then, who to leave the other quarter to….? There is no-one. And sadly, this is the line with the geneagene in its DNA. Who will take care of the family documents after I have gone, whether that day is today, tomorrow, next month, next year…. or hopefully in many decades time? A conundrum which I will need to carefully consider. And my Sillifant surname study – what should happen to that?
Gordon is beavering away drafting up ‘My Will’ with a few gaps at the moment. He made the process very simple for me – apart from not knowing the answers when I didn’t either, but I can’t criticise him for that! – and provided some sound advice which I have already managed to pass on to others. Did you know that you even state who you DON’T want to benefit from your estate?
If you haven’t written a Will, I would recommend that you do. And don’t go the DIY route – get it done properly.
