If you have suitable family members who will act as executors, you can use one of the commercial will kits to write your own. As long as you comply with all the requirements to the letter and get your signature witnessed, this will not only save you money, but also your beneficiaries who will save the cost of solicitors executing your wishes. I have now acted as executor twice - the first time I used the Which guide and managed quite adequately - and it just involves assorted correspondence to contact all accounts, etc. where there are assets, paying any outstanding bills, completing the appropriate tax form, and applying for probate. Then you gather all the assets in a separate account and pay out the beneficiaries. The biggest problem for those left behind at present seems to be the insistence of Funeral Directors in being paid upfront, when accounts are frozen until probate. The general advice seems to be that if you approach a bank/building society holding assets of the deceased, they will usually advance the amount to pay that bill.
Now I must do something about my will which is over 20 years old and needs changing!
