APRIL 2005

Is your will okay?

Recently my husband and I decided that it was about time we updated our wills. We had completed the earlier models about 18 years ago and much has changed in our lives since then. We moved from England to New Zealand; there are now grand children to consider; and our executors would no longer be suitable as they are both living in England.

Another thing that woke me to the fact that we ought to update our wills was a telephone call from a gentleman to say that an elderly male relative had died, and the family believed that the only will the he had ever made was when he sailed off to war in the 1940s. I spoke with the Defence Force’s Personnel Archives staff, but the information I received was that the will was unlikely to exist any more, so the man probably died intestate and his family will still be trying to sort out the mess.

Don’t think that you have nothing to pass on to your descendants or your favourite charity. In days gone by people even used to bequeath their clothes or their pots pans and plates to their children, other family members or friends. So if you have any favourite pieces of furniture, china, silverware or jewellery etc you might want to find out which of your nearest and dearest would like to have them as mementoes of you, and make those bequests accordingly.

To quote the Public Trust: “without a Will what you leave is ... PROBLEMS”
If something happens and you haven’t left a valid will the decisions will be made by someone else – and may not be what you would have wanted. Those you care about may miss out or get less than you expect and sorting things out can take a long time and cost a lot of money for those left behind. It may also cause extra distress for those who love you when they are already struggling to come to terms with what’s happened.

How do you set about making a will? You could start by making some notes in relation to who is going to have your money, goods and chattels, and how much or which particular items should go to whom. You could then contact the Public Trust or your family lawyer to talk it through and get the will drawn up correctly. It is possible to do it yourself, but this can be fraught with dangers.

Remember that there are some rules about the non-inclusion of some or all of your children. You need to have a good reason to say that a particular son or daughter is not to be included. There can also be problems if you have made a verbal agreement with someone; for instance if you say to your young neighbour “Hey Jim, if you will mow my lawns, I can’t pay you now, but I’ll remember you in my will” you have to mean it, and make that bequest in your will. If you don’t, Jim could contest it and win some money or a particular item and in the meanwhile your family members have lost even more by having to pay for legal advice.