Estate Planning · Just Starting Out
You don't need to be old,
rich, or married to need a will
A new job, a first flat, a partner, maybe a pet. If something happened to you tomorrow, would the right people be able to act — and would your things go where you'd actually want them to? Most people your age haven't thought about it. Ten minutes now saves a lot of stress for the people who'd have to sort it out.
Sets out who inherits what you own, and who's responsible for sorting it out, instead of leaving it to intestacy rules.
Named beneficiaries, an executor you trust, and any specific items or sums you want to go to particular people.
Especially important if you're unmarried and living with a partner — they have no automatic right to inherit from you without a will.
A Standard Will starts at £250 — considerably less than most people assume, and far less than the stress of an intestate estate.
Lets someone you trust manage your money or make health decisions on your behalf if an accident or illness leaves you unable to.
Property & Financial LPA and Health & Welfare LPA — two separate documents, covering different decisions.
Incapacity isn't just an "old age" risk — accidents happen at every age. Without an LPA, even a parent or partner has no automatic legal right to act for you.
Can only be set up while you have mental capacity — it can't be arranged after the fact.
Records specific medical treatments you'd want to refuse in the future, in circumstances where you can't communicate your wishes at the time.
Named treatments — such as life-sustaining treatment — refused in specific circumstances you describe in advance, legally binding on doctors once valid.
Different from a Health & Welfare LPA: an LPA appoints someone to decide for you, while an Advance Decision states what you've already decided, removing the guesswork for both your attorney and your medical team.
Available from £75 — one of the more affordable documents to put in place early, alongside your will and LPA.
Photos, crypto wallets, gaming accounts, social media, streaming subscriptions — all of it needs someone with access and instructions, or it's simply lost.
A note (kept separately and securely from the will itself) listing what accounts exist and how your executor should handle each one.
Prevents years of photos or a crypto wallet from becoming permanently inaccessible simply because nobody knew it existed.
Never put passwords directly in your will — it becomes a public document once probate is granted. Reference a separate, secure record instead.
Sets out who owns what — the deposit, the furniture, any joint savings — before it becomes a source of dispute if the relationship ends.
Ownership shares of shared property, how bills are split, and what happens to jointly bought items if you separate.
There's no such thing as a "common law marriage" in England & Wales — living together, however long, creates no automatic financial rights between you.
Easiest to agree calmly before moving in, rather than negotiated after a relationship has already broken down.
Clarifies which debts die with you and which become the estate's responsibility to settle before anyone inherits anything.
English Student Loans are written off on death and don't pass to family. Credit cards, overdrafts, and personal loans are usually settled from the estate before distribution.
Removes a common source of anxiety — most young adults assume their debt becomes a burden on their family, and for student loans specifically, it doesn't.
Joint debts, and anything a family member personally guaranteed, can still fall to them regardless of what the estate covers.
What Happens Without a Plan
Intestacy rules that apply if you die without a will.
less thing to worry about.
