Making a will and getting a funeral plan.

A question about : Making a will and getting a funeral plan.

I am looking for advice and forgive me if it is already posted and I have failed to find the correct place, to cut a long painful story short, in the last 2 years I have lost my home, my husband left having spent my savings and only contributes the bare minimum and I have recently been made redundant. I have 4 children, 2 still dependent, and I want to secure things for the future. I obviously hope to rebuild my financial future, and live a long while yet, but I am thinking of writing my own will ( i have purchased the pack), as I want to keep costs down, has anyone any thoughts on this? Secondly I want to make sure they do not have to worry about funeral costs, and I don't know whether to take out a Life Insurance policy or a Funeral Plan, again any advice would be appreciated.

Best answers:

• DIY wills can be done when things are simple and straightforward. It is fairly easy to do this if you are leaving all your estate to one person for example. From what you say you do not have a simple situation. Are the 2 dependent children legally dependent (ie children, so you need to say what would happen now if the proverbial bus came along in terms of guardianship) or are they adults who just rely on you (if the latter that is easier). But from what you have said you would probably benefit from a solicitor producing it since there are many mistakes you can make unless you keep it simple.
  Are you still married? if so you need to make sure he does not inherit so a will is definitely needed. Are you exploring him paying for the dependent children?
  Re funeral plans suggest that you are very careful since you are paying for many years and may not be guaranteed that it funds your funeral. If you have enough cash to pay for the funeral consider just putting it into a savings account instead. Search for people's experiences on this site some good some bad. Life Insurance is an option but you may pay this for many years and get nothing unless you keep paying.
• Rather than a funeral plan, your immediate solution might be term life insurance (long enough to see the youngest to maturity), which is a lot cheaper than whole life insurance.
  With respect to the will, are you still married? If so, then you need to do a proper one. If not, then check the intestacy laws for your country (Scotland is different)
• Unless your will is very, very simple (e.g. everything to a spouse or partner) then it is a false economy to try to do it yourself. See a solicitor (not an online company or a will-writer) and get it done properly.
  With regard to funeral plans I would suggest that you consider life insurance instead, or even a dedicated savings account, but if you do take out a plan look into how long you have to pay in, what happens if you stop paying in and how flexible it is 0 for instance in terms of if you move or change your preferences.