Finding The Will is the Way

So, it's a while since we talked about wills and trusts.

Yep, I know. <YAWN>

I have to pass on the benefit of my experience here, having finally completed our Wills complete with trust scheme to sort the boys out should we pop our clogs before they reach 18.

Let me tell you, on the one hand it's a depressing old job, planning for something you pray won't ever happen. On the other hand, our solicitor was right when she said that once it's done there's a tremendous sense of relief.

Some people like to live their lives based on the laws of probability and okay it's not that probable that Gav and I will both get run over by a bus on the same day. Having said that, having lived through the accident that nearly took Alec's life when he was nearly two, I'm in a  good position to point out that anything can happen at any moment.

I also know from previous experience that people's brains go to mush when tragedy strikes. So if either, or both of us dies, unless there's an actual plan those who are left will be stressed out, running around like headless chickens trying to decide what goes where and how to provide for the twins.

So here's the thing, now we've finally done it, noone is in any doubt. We've made clear who will look after the twins. We've also left them a letter of wishes (horrible but necessary to write) explaining how we see the twins' developing - which sort of schools we prefer, what sort of interventions we prefer and a list of people who know them well, who we trust, who could help. We'll also provide the guardians with that letter so that they can ask questions now rather than having to think about them if we suddenly start playing harps.

It's taken us about six months to complete our wills. Before you gasp, out of that six months, one afternoon was spent in an outline meeting and one evening was spent going through the draft wills and writing our letter of wishes. A further half hour was spent on a separate letter of wishes for specific items we wished to hand down to certain people. Out of the total six months, then, it took less than a day to complete the wills and trust.

The rest of the time was spent dragging our heels.

I'm usually a very organised person, but the thought of going through the draft will (very official and all that) put me off. Also, it required Gavin and I to spend some time going through it after the twins were asleep on an evening when he wasn't in a heap from a busy day at work. The fact that we both had to spend time on this together slowed it down somewhat.

When we actually got round to it, it was so straightforward it was unbelievable. The solicitors (in our case Gorvins in Stockport) draw up all the hard legal bit, all you have to do is make some decisions regarding your children's future and then sign on the dotted line.

Nothing is perfect and let's hope we're still around when the twins are in their seventies. But given worst case scenario, at least I know that both personally and financially, they'll be catered for according to our wishes. 

And thank you to Gorvins for making this as pain free as possible. Really, it's not all that bad. Don't forget to look in Issue 19 if you need a reminder of who to contact to do yours. If you're a subscriber, use your username and password to look up Issue 19 in our Magazine Archive online.