Blog

Yes, you can write your own will in Scotland. There is no general rule saying that a solicitor must prepare your will. But there is a big difference between writing something down that says who you want to inherit and preparing a legally valid will that works as intended after your death. That difference matters….

Making a will can feel like one of those jobs that is easy to put off. There may be a house to think about, savings, family arrangements, children, business interests or simply the question of who should deal with everything after your death. Yet a will only works as intended if it has been made…

Knowing where to store your original will may seem like a small detail after you have finished your will-writing, but it can make a significant difference later. Your family and your executor need to know where the signed document is kept, particularly when they have to deal with your estate after your death. For most…

A will does not always need to be completely rewritten just because something has changed. In Scotland, a codicil can be used to make certain changes to an existing will without rewriting the whole document. This can be useful where you want to update a beneficiary, change an executor or deal with another specific amendment….

A power of attorney and a will do two very different jobs, but people mix them up more often than you’d think. A will only takes effect after you die. A power of attorney, on the other hand, works while you’re still alive but no longer able to make decisions for yourself, whether that’s because…

If you’re dealing with an executor who isn’t administering an estate properly, you may be wondering whether it’s actually possible to remove them. The short answer is yes – but in Scotland, removing an executor is not something the courts do lightly. There’s a genuine legal process behind it, a fairly high bar to clear,…

Losing someone close to you is hard enough without having to think about outstanding bills, credit cards or a mortgage still sitting on the kitchen table. But in the weeks after a death in Scotland, someone usually has to work out what debts the deceased person owed, whether the estate can cover them, and who…

When someone dies in Scotland, two words tend to come up almost immediately, and they get muddled more often than you’d think: executor and beneficiary. People sometimes assume the two are interchangeable, or that being named in a will automatically makes you responsible for sorting everything out. That’s not quite right, and getting it wrong…

When someone dies, families often want to deal with their affairs quickly. Bills need to be paid, property may need to be secured, and beneficiaries naturally want to know when they will receive their inheritance. But in Scotland, an executor does not simply take control of everything and distribute the estate straight away. Confirmation gives…

If you asked ten people in Glasgow whether they have a will, most would probably admit they’ve been meaning to get round to it. It’s one of those jobs that sits quietly at the bottom of the to-do list, usually because nobody likes thinking about their own mortality, and because “sorting out a will” sounds…

If you’ve recently lost someone close to you and found yourself named as an executor, the word “confirmation” has probably come up more than once in the last few weeks –  usually from a bank, a solicitor, or a well-meaning relative who isn’t quite sure what it means either. Confirmation in Scotland is the legal…

Losing someone is hard enough without having to think about paperwork, banks and legal terminology in the days that follow. But one question tends to come up quickly, often within the first week: what actually happens to a joint bank account when one of the account holders dies? It’s a fair question, and the answer…

Losing someone close to you is hard enough without a family disagreement breaking out over what happens next. But it does happen, more often than people expect, and when it does, one question tends to come up early: can the estate still be finalised while the dispute is going on, or does everything grind to…

When someone dies in Scotland, one of the first questions their family often asks is whether they need confirmation before they can deal with the estate. It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is: it depends. Not every estate in Scotland requires a grant of confirmation, but many do, and getting this wrong can…

Losing someone close to you is hard enough without having to work out how to wind up an estate in Scotland at the same time. Yet that is exactly the position most executors find themselves in, often within days of a death. This article walks through what’s actually involved – from confirmation through to distributing…

When someone dies in Scotland, most families assume the executor named in the will simply gets on with things. In practice, that isn’t always what happens. An executor might be unwell, living abroad, overwhelmed by grief, or quietly reluctant to take on the responsibility at all. Sometimes there’s more than one executor, and they can’t…

Losing someone close to you is hard enough without having to untangle the legal and financial aspects. Yet almost every family in Scotland ends up asking the same question sooner or later: when will the money actually reach the people who are due to inherit? It’s a fair question, and honestly, one that doesn’t always…