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Having a baby is the ultimate push into adulthood. Whether you’re eighteen or forty, there’s something about suddenly finding yourself a parent, responsible for an entire other human being, that makes you grow up literally overnight. It’s the biggest commitment you will ever make. More than “in sickness and in health”. More than “’til death do us part”. Being a parent means that you promise to look out for this child forever, which means even when you’re no longer here to do it in person.

Most of us have scrabbled around at the last minute trying to find someone to witness and sign a new passport photo, frantically trying to decipher whether someone is a “person of good standing in their community”, all the while hearing the clock tick in the background, getting closer and closer to that holiday of a lifetime? So you can be forgiven for thinking that signing a Will would be the same: that you’d need a professional or even your lawyer to witness something that’s so important. But surprisingly, signing a Will is much simpler than a passport photo. And so even right now, when our contact with people outside our own home is limited, it’s not that difficult.

Recent reports have suggested as many as one in ten UK charities are facing bankruptcy and the sector is facing an estimated £10bn loss for the year from the start of the crisis, due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. The shortfall, which is caused by soaring demand for charity services during the pandemic as well as lost fundraising income, will have huge implications in the years to come. Therefore now is a great time to donate to charity and leave something to your charity of choice in your Will. Not only does donating to charity make you feel good, if you do leave a charitable legacy (i.e. leaving something to charity in your will), then it won't count towards the total taxable value of your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Whilst making a Will is important for every individual, it is even more important for those in non-traditional families to ensure that their future wishes are laid out in black and white and protect those around them. At Macnabs we are seeing more one-parent families, blended and stepfamilies, and civil partnerships, all of which can lead to complicated estate planning issues.