September is Write a Will Month

Oakhaven has teamed up with local solicitors and will writers, who are kindly donating their time and expertise to help you make or update your will when you make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice.

Your life is full of milestones: house purchases, marriage, children, divorce... To ensure that your wishes remain current, your will should be updated. Use our Write A Will Month to make those changes with a participating local solicitor or will writer. Your donation will make a difference to the families that Oakhaven supports throughout the New Forest, Totton and the Waterside.

Having an up-to-date will ensures that your wishes are met after your death. You can look after family and friends and support causes that you care about. Leaving a gift in your will can be a highly tax-efficient way of giving to charity and supporting your community.

What kind of will is covered by Write a Will Month?

During Write a Will Month, our participating local solicitors and will writers have kindly offered to waive their usual fee for making or updating a Simple Will or a Simple Mirror Will, suggesting instead you make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice.

A simple will is a straightforward legal document used to outline exactly how you want your money, property, and possessions distributed after your death. It is typically designed for people with uncomplicated estates (e.g., leaving everything outright to a spouse or dividing assets equally among children)

For example, a simple will might include, as appropriate, executor and testamentary guardian appointments, up to four cash legacies and simple division of the residuary estate, including trusts to defer an entitlement to a specified age.

For a couple, simple mirror wills would require the provisions in the wills to be identical or near identical, so as not to be separate documents.

If your circumstances are more complex, you may need a specialised or trust-based will instead of a simple one. If this is the case you can still take part in Write A Will Month and make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice and any additional work that will need to be done to your will over and above the simple guidelines above will be charged by your participating solicitor directly.

Book by 30th September for an appointment between 1st September and 31st October 2026.

Booking is now open for appointments with participating solicitors and will writers for appointments between 1st September and 31st October 2026. Your Write a Will Month donation will help Oakhaven to provide vital hospice care and support for families affected by end-of-life throughout the New Forest, Totton and the Waterside.

Find out more - and book now!

Over half of UK adults don’t have a will - Research from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) shows that 53% of adults aged 50-64 and 22% of those aged 65 and over do not have a will. Source: maps.org.uk, 27 January 2025