Largely as a result of rising property values, tax-free savings schemes such as ISAs and pension reforms that mean newly retired people can take their entire pension pot in one lump-sum payment, the requirement to write a will has never been more important among what might be called ‘ordinary members’ of the population.

Yet it would be wrong to think that a will in itself is sufficient for ensuring assets of this type will be easily traced after death. Although a will is by far the most important part of putting your affairs in order, the document itself needs to be complemented by regular reviews and accurate record-keeping of assets.

Close relatives are usually shell shocked following the death of a family member, even in cases where this is the conclusion of a long-term illness and, therefore, has been expected for some time. The division of the deceased’s estate is usually the last thing on family members’ minds.

Therefore most people are still in a state of semi-reality when they turn their attention to the issue and the matter is not made any easier when there are multiple assets involved. While a will is likely to state how the deceased’s assets are to be distributed, it will not always contain details of these assets per se. Consequently, it is relatively common for relatives to spend months following a funeral rummaging through reams of old papers without knowing what information matters and what can be thrown out.

This emphasises the importance of keeping up-to-date records of one’s finances in one place. ‘The box’ or ‘the folder’ are the most common filing systems, although given modern technology all relevant information can be condensed into a memory stick.

Technology, of course, has the potential to make access to records either a lot easier or a lot harder: maintaining a spreadsheet of your finances gives a great at-a-glance guide, but if these are all scattered on different websites and hidden behind different passwords, then it makes sense to ensure that someone responsible and trustworthy such as an executor knows where and how to start looking.

A solid will provides a feeling of security, but there is a danger of this turning to complacency if the document is not regularly reviewed. All wills should be checked every few years as a matter of course, but particularly when there are landmark events such as births, deaths, marriages or divorces within a family that may call for a change.

Asking ‘what if..?’ questions are a great way to stress-test a will as they can help highlight whether a reasonable plan is in place regardless of what might happen in the future.

It also goes without saying that if an executor should predecease or fall out with the person who has written the will – and this situation is more common than might be expected - a new executor or executors should be chosen.

Having written a will, some people change their minds and decide, for example, to reduce the inheritance of a spouse or child who has fallen out of favour, or cut them out completely. Regardless of why they want to do this, a lot of people simply change their will and leave the matter there but this completely ignores the law of legal rights – the share of an estate that any surviving child or spouse is entitled to claim as an alternative to what, if anything, has been left to them.

Consequently, the aggrieved child or spouse could make a claim that is worth more than the will provides for them, if indeed it leaves them anything at all. These legal rights take precedence and therefore can overturn, at least to some extent, the wishes of the person who has written the will.

However, legal rights claims are based on moveable property such as cash or shares and not heritable property such as residential and business premises. There are, therefore, obvious strategies available to reduce the value of a moveable estate, such as regularly giving away money and other liquid assets to preferred beneficiaries while still alive or converting some or all of these assets into heritable property. The latter can be achieved by, for example, investing available cash in a rental flat or shop premises on a busy suburban thoroughfare.

In a nutshell, anyone keen to ensure their wishes are respected after death needs to add strength to their will with regular reviews of its contents – and to maintain and regularly update records of moveable and/or heritable property held.

Stewart Dunbar is an associate solicitor at Blackadders