Thousands of will beneficiaries out of pocket

THOUSANDS of people could be leaving less than they intended to their loved ones in their will due to falling property prices.

Many people leave specific amounts to named individuals in their will and then leave the remainder of their estate to their partner. However, the remainder could be much less than intended due to the recession.

Legal experts are urging people to amend their wills to reflect this. House prices in England and Wales have fallen by 10.3 per cent since this time last year, according to property data company Hometrack. Financial experts are predicting prices could fall by as much as 15-20% by 2010.

Howard Burns, wills and probate partner at national law firm Lewis Hymanson Small, said:

“Many people try to balance entitlements between beneficiaries, for example, they may leave a house to one person and money to another. They may well find that if they want to give equal amounts, they will have to lower the amount of money so that it’s in line with the property value.

“I always recommend that people reassess their wills whenever circumstances change.

The rapid decline in house price value means everyone should look at their wills, especially if it was written a number of years ago.

"Thousands of wills are based on out of date property valuations. Small changes to a will can often be done quickly by creating an addition to the will called a codicil - there is not always the need for the whole document to be written again.”