Making a Will

In view of the unusual circumstances attending Will-making involving mentally-ill people, the services of a solicitor are absolutely essential. Unfortunately many family lawyers have so little experience of our unusual situation that they are unaware of the pitfalls and clients and so their beneficiaries are sometimes left in positions of serious financial embarrassment.
Rethink may be able to supply the names of solicitors with an interest in making provision for persons suffering from schizophrenia or other severe mental illness but our knowledge of such solicitors is inevitably limited and the list does not cover the whole country. In addition Rethink maintains contact with professionals dealing with these problems and can draw on their experience.

Preparing the Will

The carer's solicitor will require detailed information from the carer before advising on preparation of the Will.

The solicitor will need to know

  • the size of the carer's estate (including any pension rights and insurance policies)
  • whom the carer wishes to benefit from his or her estate
  • and in what proportions.

Also the carer should indicate whether any expectation may alter the situation for better or worse. The solicitor will need to have detailed information concerning the dependant's circumstances e.g long term housing requirements (i.e living independently in own housing or housing provided by local authority, etc. or in residential or hospital care) the long term prognosis of the dependant's condition and any existing source of funding (i.e local authority funding, DSS funding or private funding).

The solicitor will also need to know whom the carer wishes to appoint as executor of the carer's Will and whom the carer wishes to appoint as guardian for any minor children he or she may have. Before you form a view it is important to know the problems involved and these notes may help

National Differences within the UK

The Law of Succession in Scotland is fundamentally different from that in England and Wales, on which this paper is based, and we advise Scottish members to ensure that the suggestions made in this paper are acceptable under Scots Law; Rethink Scotland can advise. The law is also fundamentally different in the Channel Islands. In Northern Ireland care should be exercised as there are some differences.