– Anonymous
The above example may or may not be true, but it does illustrate the point that your Will is about more than just divvying up your cash assets! Of course, there is a serious side to all of this. According to Newspoll, around 45 per cent of adults don’t have legal Wills. Without a legal, up-to-date Will in place, your estate will be divided by a government formula, and the reality is that this is unlikely to reflect the way you would want things to be done, or sometimes, even what’s ‘fair’, as the formula tends to only include family members, not friends or organisations that you may have wanted as beneficiaries.
This year, Good Will Week runs from 12-19 September – so if you don’t have a Will yet, now is the perfect time to tick this important money management item off your ‘to do’ list, and although the DIY kits are very convenient, they’re also very easy to get wrong, so if you want to make sure your Will will do what you want it to it’s probably best to have it drafted professionally. You can have this done by your solicitor or a Will Maker for a fee, or for free by the Public Trustee in your state (on the condition that you name the Trustee as the executor of your estate).
Who needs a Will?
We think that everyone over 18 needs a Will, but if you’re still not sure, see if you fall into one of these categories:
Over 18s (with no partner or kids) – although you may think that you have ‘nothing’ of value, this may not be the case. Along with your personal belongings, you may have ‘hidden’ assets that you haven’t considered such as superannuation, life insurance and shares, and without a Will they pass to your next of kin, whether they’ve been a part of your life or not.
Parents with children under 18 (or carers of a child with a disability) – your Will allows you to detail what you want to happen with your child/ren, including guardianship and how you want your child/ren to be raised.
People in a ‘domestic partnership’ – if you’re not legally married, your partner will need to prove that your relationship existed and that they are entitled to a share of your estate. Think about what it would be like to have to do this when you’ve just lost the person you love most in the world – do you want to put your partner through that?
Anyone who cares about their belongings – do you want to make sure that your precious possessions are taken care of by someone who will love them as much as you do, rather than risk them being sold off on eBay? A Will lets you decide who will take care of the things you love.
People who want to choose their beneficiaries – without a Will, your friends and relatives by marriage may not be entitled to a share of your estate, even if they are closer to you than some of your blood relations.
Already got a Will? You need to update your will if you get married, separated or divorced
Your Will may become invalid if you marry after you have had it drawn up (depending on the state you live in), with your spouse automatically becoming your beneficiary, and if you separate or divorce, you need to change your Will to reflect your new circumstances, otherwise your ex-spouse could still be a beneficiary of your estate. This has the potential to cause big problems, especially with new intestacy laws in NSW, which now allow for ‘multiple spouses’, meaning that the person you’re legally married to and the person you share a ‘domestic partnership’ with both have a claim over your estate … and it’s not hard to see how that could cause some serious arguments!
Losing someone you love is painful enough, but getting drawn into a lengthy and expensive court battle over their estate makes it that much harder. Make sure you protect your loved ones by having a legal Will in place and keeping it updated and remember, just because you won’t be there, doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to take care of your family and loved ones.
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