Wills

[Tonyz]

talking with the dear one tonite we both realised we dont have a will done for when we go 'over'.
Whats your thoughts of these do it yourself ones or should it be done by a 'Professional" (what)
your humble advise please

Tony

[fred.n]

My will is 3 words long

All to Blue (partners nic-name)

I wont be here so I don't really care :)

and yes...... her's is All to fred.....so we'll see what happens

IMHO go professional

[watson]

G'day Tony,
I only have a "will kit" document.........which will suffice......as I have nothing material to leave. ( 4 children, eight grandies) Situation might be different if there are real assets involved.

[johnc]

Tonto,

Go with a solicitor, for the few dollars a basic will costs its really not a big deal. There are to many who stuff up the will kit with basic errors such as the people they use to witness a signature, and divisions of assets that leave the will open to challenge or leave unintended tax or benefit outcomes. The notion that the worst legal eagle a solicitor can use is himself applies to everyone because we are unable to step back and see our own affairs with an open mind.

But if you go with a will kit get it right because after you are gone you can't fix up the mistakes no mater how unintended they are.


John.

[masoth]

Check the Public Notices in news papers which sometimes advertise "Will" making courses. Depending on how intricate you will be in leaving the parts of your estate is the need for legal advise.
Even simple sounding Wills can be misinterpreted. Remember the Probate Court will/may be required to determine what you wanted done. The number of bequests you make may cause difficulty, particularly if your estate changes between now and then.
No matter how you write it any Will can be challenged, so the best you can do is seek professional help, but don't accept without careful consideration the advice you do receive. Remember to remember the Will each (say) year if circumstances change.

soth

[ubeaut]

Pauline and I both have wills, enduring power of attorney's and medical power of attorney's. All done properly through a solicitor. From what I've seen, this seems to be about the only way to guarantee you might get what you've asked for .

Try running a business or for that matter a household if your partner dies unexpectidly and all the bank accounts are frozen and the govt steps in to carve up the estate as they think fit. Forget it.Have seen too many lives almost destroyed by people going without a will.

And don't entrust the handling your estate to the government type Trustee bodies. Have had a really good read of their fine print and it ain't pretty what they can do with your estate folks.

Also worth looking into prepaid funerals, there can save you or your family thousands of $'s and a lot of anguish etc down the track.

Cheers - Neil :)

[Gumby]

I have a testamentary trust will. It's something to do with capital gains I think. I just leave that stuff to the people who know.

Don't let the governmemts tell you they don't have death duties any more. They do, except they are now in the form of capital gains taxes.

Also, as Neil said, enduring POA and importantly, a medical POA are very important. If you end up in hospital, your partner can make medical decisions as necessary.

[DavidG]

The same as ubeaut.
The power of attorney's are very important as it gives one party the right to keep thing going whilst the other can't.

[Tonyz]

Gumby are you saying if you dont have a medical POA the doctors can override your and your parttners decision esp. in the case of say life support machines and pain killing drugs?
Tony

[Gumby]

Gumby are you saying if you dont have a medical POA the doctors can override your and your parttners decision esp. in the case of say life support machines and pain killing drugs?
Tony

As I understand it, yes.

[masoth]

Yes! Medical a POA can be vetoed by NOK. My son knows of, and agrees to the conditions specified in my POA, ordinarily doctors will not veto if the POA is properly made - give a copy to your GP.
Equally important, is to give a copy of your (other type) POA to your bank, it make procedures so much easier for your NOK, and the bank.

soth

[Clinton1]

Pauline and I both have wills, enduring power of attorney's and medical power of attorney's. All done properly through a solicitor. From what I've seen, this seems to be about the only way to guarantee you might get what you've asked for . Exactly.

My missus has Enduring POA and Medical POA and a copy of a will done by a solicitor.... it is the only way to make sure that the lawyers/trustees don't make off with most of your assets, or hand your next of kin a fat bill.

Its not like I have many assets to get rid of, but its the only way to ensure that you minimise the costs of settling your estate, and that there is no confusion as to who gets what.

Doing it yourself is a good way to leave openings for dispute.

Its a small cost for saving your loved ones a lot of additional heartache during an already difficult time.

[David L]

Get a solicitor to to do it properly, even if you don't have much you don't want to leave a bunch of grief for your family or others to sort out on top of your going over.

Do what Ubeaut suggests and cover yourselves properly

[Chesand]

I second, third and fourth all of above.
A few years ago I saw what a mess was made of a self written will - it was still being sorted out years later and there was not a lot of value in it.

[Daddles]

Look at it this way. The less you have and the simpler the well, the less time it will take for the solicitor to draw it up and the less he will charge you. The further you get away from 'stuff all to leave' and 'no-one to leave it to', the more you need the professional advice of a solicitor.

Besides, wills are dirt cheap. This whole nonsense of doing it yourself is false economy ... and if yours wasn't cheap, you've either got too much money or you're seeing the wrong lawyer. For a modest sum, I've got a professionally done will, it's safe in his keeping and will be executed by a professional (him) and I don't have to worry about what happens if I park my bike in front of something very big and very fast.

Richard

[Santalum]

Have to agree with what most of the others have said, see a solicitor and get it done right, could save someone a lot of heartache and money some time in the future. Jon.

[Tonyz]

This is going just where I thought it would, do it right use the right people
thats for your imput. Tony

[masoth]

Tonto, your question is worth asking but you need to keep in mind the bits of information offered, in case your professionsl fails to address a particular issue eg: if there is a person who you specifically want to exclude from benefit in your Will IT IS WORTH having the exclusion explained because EVERY Will can be challenged in Probate Court.

Something like: "......... to _________, my ex wife I specifically leave nothing. She recieved 65% of all family possessions, and regular fortnightly child support payment of $----, from when she chose to leave the marital home ......."

soth

[Ashore]

Got to agree with the laywer path , and if you can one who specializes in wills and probate, I remember making our first will thought we would just leave it all to each other or the kids simple :no: First thing the lawyer asked was do you all ever ride in the car together, so who gets it if you are all killed in a car accident ? and if you are leaving your estate to a child or children who do you pick as your trustees, friends or relatives and will they have a good enough financial brain so that by the time your kids come of age theres anything left to inherit ?
We also have specifyied in our wills that we do not want to continue on life support etc I know that this can be overulled but at least out wishes are in black and white , so my advice is go with the lawyer and as I said one who knowes a fair bit about wills and probate laws.



Rgds

[AlexS]

Ashore stole my thunder. Don't just go to any solicitor - unless they know what they're about they can stuff it up as well as the next person. Check out the web site or ring your state's law society for one that specalizes and is qualified in the area. And get them to sort out POAs etc at the same time. SWMBO & I did ours and sent the in-laws along at the same time, the cost was pretty reasonable. Worth revising whenever there's a major event such as the birth of children or grandchildren, deaths, marriages, retirement, new-found enemies....