As the winter nights draw in and with Halloween just in the rear-view mirror, everyone is thinking ghosts, ghouls and the world beyond. Halloween is an odd time of year because we all temporarily think about death, even though most of us spend most of our time trying to avoid thinking about it. Perhaps part of the reason for this is that we do not mind discussions about death in the abstract – what bothers us is thinking about what it means in practice.

When trying to talk to people about their wills, a common pitfall that any wills and probate solicitor faces is that people do not want to think about what it actually means to not be around any more. In some cases, people end up being understandably quite flippant about it all (“it won’t matter to me, I’m not going to be here!”) or they just avoid the difficult questions (“well, I’m sure it will all be fine and they will work it out later.”)

When you are making a will, you are partly making it for yourself and to make sure that your wishes are achieved. However, it can be easy to forget that the other reason you are making a will is for the people you are leaving behind, because they are the ones who will have to deal with everything when you are not there.

This is why, when we are preparing a will for someone, as well as trying to understand their own personal situation, we will often end up discussing with them the personal situations of the people they name in their will.

Some of these can be more technical discussions, for example, how to put in place legal protections for vulnerable beneficiaries or how to balance the competing interests of different people who you want to benefit in your will. However, some can be more practical discussions, for example, whether it is a good idea to name two people to manage your estate if they do not get along with each other, or how quickly someone is going to be able to have access to funds when you pass away.

Fundamentally, discussions about death can be very emotional and broad-brush, so quite a large part of our work can be getting people to actually think about the practicalities and the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what it will mean that they are no longer there.

So, why don’t we all learn something this Halloween? Let’s not be afraid to talk about death, but maybe start banishing some of the ghosts and ghouls and talk about some of the practicalities instead.

For further information about preparing a will, please contact me.