We are all going to die one day.
How does this statement make you feel? We all know it to be true, it’s the one things that really does unite us all is the cycle of life… We’re all born and we all die (eventually, hopefully a long long time from now). We spend a lot of time talking about birth. This is especially true recently, with the birth of Prince George of Cambridge (and that’s probably as much as I’m ever going to say about him). However, talking about death is often an uncomfortable conversation. Most people don’t like to think about their mortality.
I have been thinking about mine since Mushroom was born. I had postnatal preeclampsia and every time I felt the signs of eclampsia coming on and rang that little red bell, I prayed. ‘I have to live’ I thought, ‘I need to be here for him.’ I gave a lot of thought in those days to what would happen if I wasn’t here to care for him and swore that I would write a will as soon as possible after his birth to ensure that he is provided for. Then of course, I went home and got better and kept thinking I would ‘do it soon.’ Two and a half years on I still hadn’t done it.
So, when I received an email from Ade at Maximum Inheritance Specialists asking whether I would be interested in his will writing services, I immediately said ‘yes.’ If, God forbid, something were to happen to both Mr B and I, we would want to ensure that Mushroom was cared for by someone we both agree on – someone close to him, who would raise him in a away we are comfortable with. This is so important to prevent confusion and potential disagreements if the worst did happen but it’s something so many couples never discuss. Life insurance to provide financially yes, but guardianship of the children? Even though Mr B and I had discussed this and agreed on who we would want it to be, we hadn’t written anything official down, anywhere. Until now.
The first time I spoke to Ade I, knowing very little about wills beyond how important they are, asked several no doubt silly questions. Ade was very gracious in his responses, and arranged to come to our house, at a time that suited us, for a consultation. He even said that if we were unable to arrange childcare for Mushroom, it wouldn’t be a problem if he was there.
When Ade did come round we had a chat about what we would want to include in our wills – beyond the obvious – leaving any property etc. to Mushroom and the issue of guardianship, Ade also raised some things I had not thought about. What if Mr B were to remarry, for example? Although the subject matter was at times uncomfortable to think about, it is important to consider all possibilities and Ade somehow made it feel like a pleasant chat. The whole consultation was over in less than two hours and Ade promised to send across our wills for checking as soon as he could.
Soon, was much quicker than I expected! The next day, Ade had emailed us our wills, along with a ‘jargon buster’ commentary, which explained everything in language we could both understand. We still had a couple of questions so we fired off an email and Ade responded quickly, clearing up our concerns.
Less than a week later, our wills came through the post (Ade had offered to come round again with them but we said it wasn’t necessary), we signed and returned them to Ade for safekeeping and that was that! Of course, we kept copies for our records and to share with those named within.
So, we now know that Mushroom’s future is protected. While it’s not something that kept me awake at night before, I do feel a slight sense of relief in knowing that it’s all sorted. If it’s something that you’ve been thinking about, I urge you to go ahead and do it. Hopefully we’ll all got plenty more years ahead of us but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
Disclosure: The will writing service was provided for free in exchange for this review. However, the views are my own. I would not recommend Ade if the service was unsatisfactory. I certainly wouldn’t have let him write my will! Read my full PR and disclosure policy here. If you would like a no obligation consultation with Maximum Inheritance Specialists, just fill out this form.
