Why it is so important for you to have a will & review it often.
Every September the legal fraternity celebrates National Wills Week by educating the public about the importance of having and regularly reviewing a will. Many attorneys also offer drafting wills for free for this month. At Concessus, we doing both of those things, but we're also having cake.
However, as we're writing this in April, we're currently cake-free (tragic, I know) and super focused on helping you understand what a will is, why you need one and how to go about getting one set up.
DEATH & TAXES
The only two certainties in life are death and taxes (thanks Benjamin.) Your death isn't a fun topic to discuss. We get that. But as legal professionals, we also know — and have see the repercussions firsthand too many times — that it is not a discussion worth delaying because you don't want to think about it yet. So let's dive in.
DO I NEED A WILL?
Short answer: YES! Many people think they're not old enough or don't have enough assets to justify drafting a will. This misconception is, to a large extent, a result of people not having a good enough understanding of what it is that you're actually achieving by having a will, which is what we'll chat about next.
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
We'll answer this question by looking at what you're achieving by drafting a will.
You're exercising your right to choose what happens to your assets when you die. We call this your freedom of testation.
You get to provide for your loved ones.
You get to choose your estate's executor, who will be responsible for handling your affairs.
You formalise in writing who you want to take care of your kids when you're no longer there.
You spare your family a lot administrative headaches.
WHAT IF I DIE WITHOUT ONE? If you die without a valid will, you die intestate. That means your estate will devolve in line with the Intestate Succession Act, which has a set formula in terms of which your various family members will inherit whatever is left in your estate to distribute.
In other words, you don't get to choose who gets what. You also don't get to choose who's in charge of administering your estate.
Typically, it takes much longer to wind up an estate if there was no valid will.
DRAFTING YOUR WILL
While it's absolutely possible to draft a valid will by yourself, we strongly recommend that you approach a professional to help you. Our advice? Don't risk it by doing it on your own. Get some help. (Click the button at the bottom of this article to get un touch with us about this.)
EXECUTING YOUR WILL
Once the content of your will is drafted, there are a few short steps to take to ensure it is valid.
Print a copy of your will.
Ask two people to give you five minutes of their time. Be aware that you cannot ask the following to act as witnesses:
Anyone younger than 14 years of age
Any of your heirs (the people who will inherit your assets)
Your Executor / Alternative Executor.
Grab a pen. Not a pencil and certainly not some magic eraser pen.
Sign away in the presence of both these witnesseS
Initial every page
Initial next to any changes made to the already printed will
Sign in full on the last page
Then let the witnesses do their thing (exactly what you just did). They must also
complete the details required on the last page.
If you're worried about losing your copy of your will, you can execute two identical wills. You'll keep one, and give the other one to your Executor.
REVIEWING YOUR WILL
Your life is constantly changing, which is exactly why it's important to review your will often. It's a good idea to look at your will yearly. Sometimes, there may be years that go by without you making a single change to your will. Here are some of the life events that usually trigger people to draft a new will:
The birth of a child
The death of a spouse, child, grandchild, or parent Marriage
Divorce (this one is really important!)
OK, NOW WHAT?
Reach out! There are many attorneys who can help you with this. In celebration of National Wills Week, many of us will help you with your will for free (!) for the month of September.
We'd love to guide you through this process. Give us a call or pop us a mail and we'll get the process started.