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Claire White qualified in 1997 and worked in the private client practice at BP Collins until 2000, when she joined the private client department at Bircham Dyson Bell as an assistant, then associate solicitor. As a fee earner, Claire has worked as private client advisor as part of a multi-disciplinary team of lawyers for clients with considerable property, commercial and trust interests and she has extensive experience in estate planning, post-death planning and trusts from creation and administration to termination. In 2008, Claire joined Herbert Smith LLP as the professional support lawyer for their Private Wealth and Charities group and she joined PLC in September 2009 as head of PLC Private Client. Claire is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Carol Haworth qualified at Collyer Bristow in 2002, following a ten-year career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. On qualification she joined the private client department at Bircham Dyson Bell, where she became a senior associate and dealt with a wide range of trust and estate planning work, both onshore and offshore. She moved to PLC in March 2008. Carol is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Jacqueline Judge is a former solicitor. She qualified in 2001, following an eleven-year career as an archivist. On qualification she joined Stafford Young Jones, a small City practice, where her work covered probate, administration of trusts and estates and the Court of Protection. In 2005 she moved to Rooks Rider's private client department where she dealt mainly with probate. Jacqueline joined PLC Private Client in April 2008.
Neil Richardson qualified with Simmons & Simmons in 2000 and spent the following five years working as an assistant solicitor in their Private Capital Group, where he dealt with a range of onshore and offshore tax and trust matters. After a brief spell as an associate solicitor in the Tax Department at SJ Berwin LLP, he joined Clarke Willmott LLP in 2006 as their first Professional Support Lawyer in the private client field. Neil joined PLC Private Client in September 2010 and is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Adrian Pashley specializes in all aspects of charity law and practice and the application of corporate and commercial law to the charity and wider not-for-profit sector. His experience includes charity mergers and re-structuring projects and setting up Academy schools. He has worked as a senior lawyer in the education and charities team at Veale Wasbrough (now Veale Wasbrough Vizards) and in the charities teams at Bates Wells & Braithwaite and Blake Lapthorn. Adrian has extensive experience in lecturing and training and is a contributor to the ICSA Charities Handbook. Adrian joined PLC Private Client in October 2010 and is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Mary Ambrose qualified as a solicitor in 1992 following a career as a museum curator. She worked as a solicitor in the private client departments of Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) and Simmons & Simmons before joining Macfarlanes as a professional support lawyer where she worked in the private client department for eight years. She has dealt with a wide range of onshore and offshore tax and trust matters. She joined PLC in September 2011 after three years as an associate solicitor at Ashton KCJ in Cambridge.
Nisha Beerjeraz joined PLC in May 2010 and has been a paralegal in the Private Client team since September 2010 (having previously worked as a team leader in PLC's client relations team). She graduated in 2008 from Brunel University with a degree in law and completed the LPC at BPP Law School in 2009. She has undertaken pro bono work mainly covering intellectual property and housing law and worked as a paralegal in-house and for the Treasury Solicitors.
Chenaara Edghill-Peart graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 2008 with a 2:1, LLB (Hons) Law. She moved abroad to do an LLM in Law at the University of Hong Kong, graduating in 2009. She is currently undertaking the part time BPTC at BPP law school, London and is due to be called to the Bar in 2012. She is a Member of Middle Temple Inn and winner of the Quatercentenary Scholarship in 2010. Chenaara joined PLC as a float paralegal in March 2010.
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A free trial to PLC Private Client includes access to our practice notes, continually maintained standard documents and clauses with drafting notes, checklists and much more - all written by our experienced team of private client legal experts who know what life on the front line is like. See below for examples of the high quality content you could have access to.
This standard document is a will offering a range of options for testators. It has integrated drafting notes.
For amendments to the Master Will since the last FastDraft release, click here. To view the video demonstration of the FastDraft Master Will in action, click here
You can use this standard document to draft many different types of wills, including or omitting clauses as appropriate.
For an overview of the will, including a "road map" to help you find the clauses you need, see Practice note, Master will: Overview (www.practicallaw.com/8-384-9067).
1.1 I am [TESTATOR'S FULL NAME] of [TESTATOR'S ADDRESS]. This is my last will, disposing of [all my worldwide assets OR only my assets in England and Wales OR all my assets except my assets in [NAME OF COUNTRY]].
Always include clause 1.1.
In the first sentence, insert the testator's full name and his or her permanent private address.
Also insert the testator's full name on the coversheet.
Select an option for the second sentence of the clause, depending on whether the will is to cover the testator's assets:
Throughout the world (first option).
Only in England and Wales (second option).
Everywhere in the world except for a specified country (third option).
The first option is suitable for most testators. If the testator has no property outside England and Wales, or has been advised by appropriately qualified lawyers that it is not necessary to make a separate will disposing of foreign assets, select the first option.
A testator who owns assets in two or more countries outside England and Wales may decide to make several wills, each disposing of assets in a different country, after taking advice from lawyers qualified to advise on the laws of the various countries. In that case, the testator may want to use this will to dispose only of assets in England and Wales: select the second option.
A testator who owns assets (and, in particular, real property such as a holiday home) in a country outside England and Wales may decide to dispose of the foreign assets under a separate will, after taking advice from lawyers qualified to advise on the law of that country. In that case, select the third option, excluding the foreign assets from the scope of this will.
If selecting the second or third option, ensure that this will does not unintentionally revoke the testator's other will or wills (see clause 1.2 and Drafting note, Revoking previous wills and codicils).
A testator can dispose of all his or her assets by will except:
Assets owned jointly with another (or others) as beneficial joint tenants (www.practicallaw.com/7-382-5953). When two or more people own an asset (such as a house) as joint tenants - that is, joint owners - and one of them dies, the asset automatically passes to the other joint owner(s) by survivorship (www.practicallaw.com/2-382-5899), regardless of the terms of the will of the joint owner who has died.
Nominated assets (www.practicallaw.com/0-382-5715) that the testator has directed should, on his or her death, pass to a named individual.
1.2 I revoke any previous wills and codicils [[except my will disposing of my assets in [NAME OF COUNTRY] OR to the extent that they dispose of my assets in England and Wales]].
Always include this clause, which revokes previous wills and codicils, even if you believe that the testator has not made a will before.
If this is to be the testator's only will, delete all the optional words.
If the testator has made a separate will, disposing of assets outside England and Wales (see the second option mentioned in Drafting note, What assets does the will cover?), ensure that this clause does not unintentionally revoke the other will. Do this by including the optional words "except my will disposing of my assets in" and inserting the name of the country where the assets are situated.
If this will disposes only of the testator's assets in England and Wales (see the third option mentioned in Drafting note, What assets does the will cover?), include the optional words "to the extent that they dispose of my assets in England and Wales", so that this clause does not revoke provisions in earlier wills disposing of assets outside England and Wales but overrides provisions in those wills disposing of assets in England and Wales.
If the testator has not made a separate will disposing of property outside England and Wales, but plans to do so in future, ask for a copy of the draft of the other will so that you can check that it does not unintentionally revoke this will.
1.3 [References in this will to my [wife OR husband OR civil partner] must be read as references to [FULL NAME OF SPOUSE OR CIVIL PARTNER].]
If the testator is married or has a civil partner, insert the spouse or civil partner's full name in clause 1.3.
This clause does not have to be included unless the testator wants it.
The first option allows the testator to say that he or she:
Wants, or does not want, to be cremated.
Wants, or does not want, to be buried.
If a testator chooses this option, include or delete "do not", and delete "cremated" or "buried" to reflect the testator's wishes.
The second option allows the testator to say that he or she wants a "natural" burial. If a testator chooses this option, ask whether a plot for a woodland burial has already been reserved and then complete (or delete) the words referring to the plot. Information about family-organised, environmentally friendly funerals and "natural" burial grounds is available from the Natural Death Centre.
An expression of funeral wishes is not legally binding, but is normally followed where possible.
Instead of, or as well as, using this clause, the testator may want to express funeral wishes in another document left with relatives and friends. Advise the testator to tell those who will be arranging the funeral where to look for the expression of wishes.
2.1 I [do not] want my body to be [cremated OR buried].
2.2 I want my body to [be enclosed in a cardboard coffin and buried OR receive a woodland burial in the [NAME OF CEMETERY] at plot number [NUMBER]] and I want a tree to be planted to mark my grave. I recommend that whoever is responsible for arranging my funeral consults The Natural Death Centre, 12a Blackstock Mews, Blackstock Road, London N4 2BT (telephone 0871 288 2098) for information about natural burial sites and funeral directors who are prepared to organise natural burials.]
In most cases, it is not necessary to include this clause. However, raise the possibility of including it for a testator who:
Is not domiciled (www.practicallaw.com/8-382-5679) in England and Wales; or
Has connections with two or more legal jurisdictions, so that there could be doubt about domicile.
Before including the clause, make sure that the testator:
Understands what "domicile" means under the law of England and Wales.
Has taken advice on the potential tax and succession law consequences of including the clause.
If the clause is to be included, enter the "legal jurisdiction" of domicile. This is not necessarily a nation (although it can be); it is a territory that is subject to a single system of law. For example, an individual may be domiciled in Scotland or Northern Ireland or England and Wales but cannot be domiciled in the UK or in Great Britain. Similarly, each state in the US is a separate legal jurisdiction for domicile purposes, as are the states of Australia and the Canadian provinces: an individual may be domiciled in California or Quebec but cannot be domiciled in the US or Canada.
For information about domicile, see Practice note, Domicile (www.practicallaw.com/2-382-1603).
Including the clause shows where the testator believes his or her domicile to be. This may be helpful if, after the testator's death, issues relating to tax or succession law depend on the testator's domicile and the domicile is in doubt. However, a statement in a will that the testator is domiciled in a particular country is merely a reflection of the testator's belief; it cannot alter his or her domicile.
I am domiciled in [LEGAL JURISDICTION].]
Include clause 4 only if the testator is not married or in a civil partnership (www.practicallaw.com/2-201-6423) but is planning to marry, or form a civil partnership with, a particular person after making the will and wants the will to be effective after the marriage or formation of the civil partnership.
Ask if the testator:
Wants the will to be effective even if he dies before the marriage or the formation of the civil partnership.
Wants the will to become effective only when the marriage or civil partnership takes place.
Choose the option for the final sentence of clause 4.1 that corresponds with the testator's wishes.
If an individual who has made a will marries or forms a civil partnership, the will is automatically revoked on the marriage or formation of the civil partnership (sections 18(1) and 18B(1), Wills Act 1837). However, there is an exception to this general rule. A will is not revoked by the testator's marriage to, or formation of a civil partnership with, a person if it is clear that both the following conditions are satisfied:
At the time of making the will, the testator was expecting to marry, or form a civil partnership with, that person.
The testator intended that the marriage, or the formation of the civil partnership, should not revoke the will.
(Sections 18(3) and 18B(3), Wills Act 1837.)
4.1 [I am expecting to marry [NAME OF INTENDED SPOUSE] ([DEFINED TERM FOR INTENDED SPOUSE]). My marriage to [her OR him] does not revoke this will. [This will is [effective even if I die before marrying OR not effective until I marry [DEFINED TERM FOR INTENDED SPOUSE].]
OR
I am expecting to form a civil partnership with [NAME OF INTENDED CIVIL PARTNER] ([DEFINED TERM FOR INTENDED CIVIL PARTNER]). My forming a civil partnership with [him OR her] does not...
A practice note explaining the jurisdiction, procedure and practice of the tribunal system that hears appeals against, and reviews of, Charity Commission decisions and charity law references. It reflects the law after 1 September 2009, when the Charity Tribunal was abolished and its jurisdiction transferred to the current system, which comprises the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) and the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber).
On 1 September 2009, the Charity Tribunal (www.practicallaw.com/2-383-9108) was abolished and its entire jurisdiction transferred to:
The First-tier Tribunal (Charity) (FTT(C)).
The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (UT(TCC)).
(Together, the Tribunal.)
These changes were part of a series of transfers of tribunals into the new simplified statutory framework for tribunals created by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCEA 2007).
For more information, see:
For further information about the jurisdiction of the Charity Tribunal before 1 September 2009, see Article, Charity litigation: the Charity Tribunal (www.practicallaw.com/8-383-9073).
The Tribunal is administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Ordinarily, charity cases (that is, cases brought under the Charities Act 1993 (ChA 1993)) are dealt with in the FTT(C).
The FTT(C) is composed of a principal judge, five judges and seven other members (all of whom are appointed by the Lord Chancellor following recommendation by the Judicial Appointments Commission) and is administered from Leicester (see Contact details).
The UT(TCC) hears:
Appeals against decisions of the FTT(C) (see Appealing FTT(C) decisions).
Cases or preliminary issues transferred to it by the FTT(C).
Ordinarily, the UT(TCC) does not become involved in charity cases at first instance. However, the Attorney General's (www.practicallaw.com/4-383-9107) first and second charity law references were both transferred to the UT(TCC) at first instance, in the light of the complexity of the issues to be considered and the potential impact of the decisions.
For further information about the Attorney General's first and second charity law references, see Private client case tracker, Charities cases, A (www.practicallaw.com/9-385-2158).
The Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear three different types of case:
Appeals. The Tribunal can hear and determine appeals made in accordance with Schedule 1C to the ChA 1993 or any other enactment, relating to decisions, orders or directions of the Charity Commission (www.practicallaw.com/7-383-6372) (section 2A(4)(a), ChA 1993).
Reviews. The Tribunal can hear and...
