Wills

Advising on and making Wills are part of our day to day practice.

However, a lot of people have not yet made their Will.

A Will is to ensure that when a person dies his or her wishes are carried out exactly how he or she wants. This may concern the distribution of property, monies and any other assets held by the person making the will.

A Will is like an inexpensive insurance policy – it can be updated and amended as the circumstances in your life change – when you get married, take over a business, have children, decide to start estate planning etc.

Should a Will not be made the rules of Intestacy will apply which are rules laid down by the state and may not reflect the person making the will’s wishes

A very important point that in the first line of any Will is where it states: “This is the Last Will and Testament of…” A Will can be changed and updated at any time following the making of a Will. It is only the last Will that has any relevance and is enforceable.

Remember that Wills can potentially be challenged so it is very important that you are clear in your instructions and with the reasons for what you are doing.

What can be left in a Will? – Specific amounts of money, Property, Charitable Bequests, Residue.

If the persons making a will are catering for infant children, a Will Trust is created and therefore Trustees would need to be appointed in place of executors as well as guardians for your infant children. The Trustees and Guardians may not be the same people. Other issues you may wish to consider is the importance, if possible of keeping children together.