What is the best type of will for married couples?

The best type of will for married couples depends entirely on your situation. If it’s the first time either of you has been married and neither of you have children from a previous relationship, a joint will is probably the best option.

Joint wills are a convenient way to write your wills together while also including some of your own individual wishes.

Here are a few reasons a joint will is the best type of will for married couples:

• You can sign up to write your wills at the same time

• You get a special reduced price for writing your wills together

• It’s easy to reflect each other’s wishes when appointing legal guardians and dividing up your estate

• You can each leave separate gifts, messages and funeral wishes

If your situation is more complex, you may be better off setting up a trust. To find out more about setting up a trust, please call us on 020 3695 2090.

A joint will is actually made up of two individual wills – one for each person in the relationship. This gives you the freedom to either echo each other’s wishes or write your own, depending on what’s right for you.

A joint will is a great choice for married couples in the UK. This is because married couples often have shared responsibility over things like:

• Children

• Pets

• Property

• Joint bank accounts

• Joint building society accounts

• Joint savings accounts

• Life insurance policies

By making a joint will, you’ll be able to make decisions together to ensure that your family’s future (and your financial assets) are protected.

When writing joint wills, most couples choose to mirror each other’s wishes for things they share responsibility or ownership for. This includes things like:

• Appointing the same legal guardians for your children

• Choosing the same people to look after your pets

• Dividing up your estate in the same way

Each partner may then decide to leave more personal wishes in other parts of their will, including:

• Leaving a specific gift to a loved one

• Donating to a charity that’s particularly close to your heart

• Appointing executors of your will

• Writing messages of farewell to family and friends

• Leaving funeral wishes so your family know what you would have wanted

A joint will with Farewill costs £140 (saving you £40 compared to the cost of two separate wills). This is cheaper than writing joint wills with a solicitor on the high street, which costs between £250 to £400.

We also offer an update service for £10 a year per person, free for the first year. This allows each of you to update your will anytime your circumstances change.

Here are some of the reasons you may want to update your will in the future:

• You have another child (or grandchild) and want to make them a beneficiary of your estate

• Your children’s legal guardian dies or moves away from your local area, so you choose to appoint someone else

• A member of your family has an illness that makes you want to leave part of your estate to charity

• You lose touch with your chosen executors and need to appoint someone else

• You change your mind about your funeral wishes, such as what music you want to be played or where you want your ashes scattered

You and your partner can get joint wills online by using Farewill’s online will writing service. Here’s how it works:

• Sign up for free on our website

• Use our solicitor-approved guide to draft your will – this takes most people around 15 minutes

• Pay £140 to submit your joint wills to be checked by our will experts – they’ll let you know if anything needs to be changed or clarified

• Print your wills at home or work, or we can send them to you if you don’t have a printer

• Sign your wills alongside two witnesses to make them legally binding

We also offer a telephone service for our single and joint wills. This is perfect for anyone who would prefer to speak to someone over the phone while writing their will, but this may also be a good option if your situation is particularly complex.

Your situation may be considered complex if:

• You own a business

• You want specific advice on inheritance tax planning

• You have overseas assets

To speak to someone about writing your will over the phone, give us a call on 020 3695 2090.