How ready is your estate?

An estate that is "in order" is one your family could actually administer without you — quickly, calmly, and without guessing. In practice that means three things.First, the right documents exist and are current: a valid will that says who inherits, and a registered Lasting Power of Attorney so someone can act if you lose capacity. Second, the records exist: a findable list of your bank accounts, pensions, insurance policies, property and debts, so your executor isn't reconstructing your life from old letters. Third, the right person can reach all of it — they know where the documents are, can get into the accounts that matter, and have been told what you'd want.This quiz scores all three across four sections (Personal, Registry, Secure and Events) and gives you a readiness band so you can see where the gaps are. It's a self-assessment, not a verdict, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.

The two cornerstones are a valid, up-to-date will and a registered Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). The will decides who inherits and names the executor who'll handle everything; the LPA lets someone you trust act for you if you lose mental capacity while you're still alive — and it has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used.Around those, the records that save your family the most time are: a list of bank accounts, savings, ISAs and investments; pension details and who is nominated to receive them; insurance policies with provider and policy numbers; property deeds and mortgage details; up-to-date beneficiary nominations; and your funeral or committal wishes. It also helps enormously if a second person knows where the originals are kept and could access your email and key accounts within a day or two.Together, these are what turn a will in a drawer into an estate someone can actually administer.

The most serious gap is dying without a valid will. If that happens, the intestacy rules in England & Wales decide who inherits — a fixed legal order that may not match your wishes, can leave an unmarried partner with nothing, and gives you no say over who raises young children or who administers the estate.Even with a will, a disorganised estate creates real cost in time and stress: executors spend weeks or months tracking down accounts, chasing institutions, and proving entitlement, often while grieving. Accounts in your sole name are typically frozen until probate, bills can lapse, and assets nobody knew about can be missed entirely.If you also lose capacity without a registered LPA, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed — slower and more expensive than an LPA set up in advance. None of this is about doing anything wrong; it's simply what happens when the structure isn't there yet.

Not necessarily. For straightforward circumstances you can make a will and register a Lasting Power of Attorney yourself — the LPA can be made and registered through the GOV.UK service, with a fee payable to the Office of the Public Guardian (reductions or exemptions apply on lower incomes).A solicitor is worth the cost when things are more complex: blended families, business interests, trusts, property abroad, potential inheritance-tax planning, or any chance of a dispute. Organising your records — accounts, policies, passwords, wishes — needs no solicitor at all and is often where the biggest practical difference is made.A sensible approach is to get the records in order yourself, then decide whether your will and LPA are simple enough to do directly or worth professional advice. This quiz helps you see which parts are already handled and which would benefit from help.

A good rhythm is a light review at least every two years, and a proper one after any major life event — marriage, divorce, a new child or grandchild, a death in the family, buying or selling property, starting or closing a business, or a significant change in your finances. Marriage can revoke an earlier will in England & Wales, and divorce changes how parts of a will are read, so these in particular should prompt a check.Beyond the legal documents, your records drift out of date quietly: closed accounts, new pensions, changed providers, lapsed policies.Re-running a quick assessment like this one each year or after a big change is the simplest way to catch what's slipped, before it becomes your family's problem to untangle.

Yes, it's private. Every answer you give is processed on your own device, and your result is worked out in your browser — nothing is sent to us as you answer.If you choose to ask for your full report by email at the end, only the email address (and optional first name) you type is used for that, and your privacy is covered by our Privacy Policy. You can also save your result as a PDF or simply close the tab.We deliberately don't gate the result behind a sign-up: there's no card, no account, and no email required to see your readiness band.