Published on: 18th January 2021

Why every parent should have a Will

For most parents, the primary focus of their attention is on their children, and many of the decisions they make are made around what is best for them. For this reason, it is essential that every parent should have a Will and in this article we will go into more detail on why this is the case, and some scenarios that could happen should a Will not be in place.

A parental responsibility agreement/guardianship clause

Every parent who has a child or children should have a Will, with some form of parental responsibility agreement or guardianship clause within their Will. This is a clause which states who should have the responsibility for looking after their children should the worst happen, and they, the parent, die.

A common misconception amongst many is that if a child has Godparents and the parents die that it is the Godparents who will be placed in charge of looking after the children. This is not the case and the only way guarantee you choose who would look after your children would be by using a parental responsibility agreement through your Will.

An important point to consider is that the parental responsibility agreement should be reviewed regularly. Here at Casey & Associates we always offer a free, no obligation review of the Wills of our Clients every three years, and in this review an important question to ask is whether the Clients are happy with their current parental responsibility agreement or guardianship clause. The agreement covers children up to the age of 18 and will often have been drafted when the child is very young so there is a chance for this to get out of date, and the guardians chosen may either be too old, unwilling/unable to look after the children, or perhaps the parents have fallen out with them and no longer feel they are the best people anymore. In some instances, the guardians may have passed away. Whatever the reason, if this agreement is not reviewed regularly then you risk the guardianship of your children going to someone who you maybe chose a number of years before and do not have the relationship with now.

What happens to children if their parents die without a Will?

If parents with children under 18 die without a Will, they can leave behind a range of problems for their children and indeed other family members.

A scenario where parents have Wills, with parental responsibility agreements in, but sadly both die at the same time, would mean that the process for the children to be able to be cared for by their guardian would be smooth, at a very emotional and distressing time, thanks to the parental responsibility agreement. This means that the children are cared for by someone who the children know and the recently deceased parents trust.

If a married couple with children both die at the same time and Wills are not in place, then the children would be temporarily looked after by social services and would live either with a foster family or in care. It may transpire that a family member can look after the children, but for this DBS checks need to be carried out on the family member along with checks on their house to make sure this is suitable for the children and this can take time. While all this is going on, the children are living with strangers. Although the children may well end up with a family member eventually, the last thing children need at an emotional time like this is to not know the people looking after them and to have such uncertainty surrounding them.

If parents die without Wills, they are ultimately leaving the decision of who looks after their children up to chance with a likelihood of intervention from social services. 

And what are the financial implications of parents who die without a Will?

Particularly if one of a married couple dies, it is important to know that the surviving spouse will have the access they need straight away to finances. This is not always the case and especially if the assets are not divided equally, the surviving spouse may not get access to the money straight away. They will most likely gain access eventually, but it may take some time and have further unnecessary financial implications. At the stressful and emotional time of losing a partner, additional hassle in being unable to access finances is the last thing that a surviving spouse would need!

We would advise any married couples to make sure that their Wills are in order so their finances can be easily accessed by both spouses regardless of who dies first. We would also recommend checking with pension providers and any investments to see how this is paid out as ideally this would be kept out of the Estate to avoid potential Inheritance Tax implications. It is also worth making sure there are nominated beneficiaries on the policy.

If you are a parent and do not have Wills which contain a parental responsibility agreement or guardianship clause, we would strongly encourage you to act now. If you want to talk to the Casey & Associates team about how we can help, give us a call on 01732 868190 or send us a contact form and one of our friendly, knowledgeable team will be happy to help.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that if you wish to give instructions or require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone or Zoom appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants and you feel that you can only do this at a Face to Face meeting we are offering, at our Consultant’s discretion, a limited number of Face to Face appointments in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here. To arrange an appointment please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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