Paul Fursman
Legal
Half the parents in Essex have no legal guardian in place to care for their children in the event of their deaths
Research commissioned by SFE (Solicitors for the Elderly) shows 50% of parents in the Essex area have no legal plans in place to make sure their children are looked after, should the parents die.
According to the research, parents in Essex are almost completely unaware of the risks of not identifying a legal guardian in a Will. Only two out of ten (19% of) parents in Greater London understand that social services or the courts can step in to decide what happens to your children if you don’t have a Will in place.
SFE, a membership body of over 1,700 UK solicitors specialised in advising people planning for the future, is calling on parents to make sure they have an updated Will.
The new research commissioned by SFE and carried out by Censuswide also reveals:
- 80% of respondents in Essex have experienced a life changing event, such as getting married, divorced or having a child, since they last updated their Will.
- Over a third (35%) of respondents in Essex have not updated their Will within the last five years, meaning they are likely to be out of date.
Nearly one third (32%) of respondents in Essex know someone who has been affected by something going wrong with a Will.
Manzurul Islam, Head of Wills and Probate, said:
“It’s concerning how many parents don’t have a Will in place or haven’t appointed a legal guardian for their children. Godparents don’t count as legal guardians, so to avoid the risk of the courts deciding what happens to your children, its best to make a Will. It’s also crucial to keep your Will under review and up to date and take legal advice when life-changing events happen, like getting re-married or having children.”