If you have been thinking of making a will, there are many obvious items you will doubtless have paid attention to, like your money, your home, and high-value possessions like your car. Family heirlooms will also be important for more sentimental reasons.

However, it is possible the list of items to be passed on will include some unusual features, though perhaps not as odd as those highlighted by a new survey on wills.

The study by Estate Research certainly came up with some novel items, but the press release declared that an axe, stuffed snake and a tortoise were not even the weirdest things left behind, with this title being contested by items like a single sock, a single shoe, a spade and even someone’s grandmother’s false teeth.

Will solicitors in Surrey will have seen some strange things in wills in their time, but while it is important to include anything you feel should be listed to make sure it goes to whom you want, the most crucial issue is to make a will in the first place.

It is well known that a majority of Britons do not have a will and are therefore set to die intestate, with all the risks this creates of major family disputes after you pass on and your true wishes not being fulfilled.

The survey found 51 per cent of people didn’t have a will, but also revealed that only 28 per cent had one that is up-to-date. 19 per cent admitted theirs needs updating, which can be just as important. Nearly half used a solicitor to help make their will, by far the most commonly sought form of expertise.

While the Estate Research survey put the intestacy figure at just over half, a recent Daily Mail article offering advice on the subject put it at two-thirds. But either figure is too high; whether it is your home and money or your pet tortoise and grandmother’s false teeth, make an appointment to draw up a will today.