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Working out what a Will is worth to you

Analaura Luna

Well, this Will is reportedly worth several hundred million dollars, and while your Will might not be dealing with an estate worth quite that much, it's just as valuable to the people who you would want want to be taken care of if something were to happen to you. That's why getting it right when you're writing a Will is so important.

How much it costs to have a Will prepared varies according to who you get to do it, but if you’re wondering if it’s really worth the cost – or effort – of having your Will drafted professionally, take a look at these real life stories reported by NSW Trustee & Guardian to see how much not having a Will, or making one ‘little’ mistake when writing a Will with a DIY Kit, might cost your family …

• A wealthy and educated man left a Will in Australia detailing what should happen with his Australian investments and another Will in England covering his UK investments, but neglected to write a Will regarding his Honk Kong holdings, which were then dealt with according to Hong Kong intestacy laws.

• A man in NSW died without a Will, but because no official record of his birth could be found it was impossible to legally determine who his next of kin was, and his $180 000 estate passed to the government.

• A 21-year-old woman was killed in a work-related motor vehicle accident, resulting in a $200 000 accident cover payout. Because she had no Will, her estate passed to her mother and father equally, even though she had never met her father because he had deserted the family weeks before she was born.

• A man filled in a DIY Will Kit with the intention of leaving his estate to his wife, but although he named her as executor, he didn’t fill in the section naming her beneficiary, and effectively, left his entire estate to no one.

Getting it right when you’re writing a Will
If you decide to have your Will professionally drafted, it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about the things that you want in it beforehand, and if you do decide to DIY, there are some things that need to be included when writing a will. Among other things, your Will should state:

How you want your assets handled – you still get to have a say in whether your assets are sold or kept, and when you would like this to happen. If you have children under 18, or beneficiaries who are incapable of handling large sums of money, you can also create a trust structure in your Will to break their inheritance up into instalments, rather than giving them a lump sum.

Your executor – this is a big job, so make sure you discuss it with the person you choose as they may not actually want to do it, because being named executor of a Will is a big responsibility. Often, people simply choose a family member or friend for the job, but this isn’t a decision to take lightly, as executor duties can be complicated and varied. Executor duties can include having to sell property or shares, set up trusts, arrange for the care of children and even settle disputes between beneficiaries, so it’s worth making sure that the person you choose is up for the job and able to do it. In a lot of cases, it may be worth appointing an independent executor, who will have the skills, knowledge and experience to get the job done.

Your beneficiaries – these are the people and organisations that will share in your estate. For many people, their family will be their beneficiaries, which sounds reasonable enough, but stop for a minute and think about what this could mean. You might know who you’re referring to when you say ‘family’, but if you don’t specify exactly who they are in your Will, then anyone who has a familial tie with you could have a claim on your estate. If you don’t spell it out, then your loved ones could spend years fighting in court, or your estate could be handled according to a government formula, which probably isn’t going to distribute your estate in the way you really wanted.

Apart from these three things, your Will also needs to use the correct legal terminology, and you need to make sure that you don’t make a simple mistake that would render it invalid, like forgetting to fill in one little section! It’s easy to see just how complicated writing a will and making sure that you dot all of the ‘i’s and cross all the ‘t’s can be – so before you decide how you’re going to get your Will created, stop and think about what getting it right could be worth to your family in the future.

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Tags: writing a will, executor duties, executor of a will, money management

Author's Biography

Analaura Luna is an author, wealth adviser and founder of Your Family Your Money. Your Family Your Money’s goal is to simplify traditionally complex financial strategies, demystify financial jargon and debunk common financial myths, becoming every family’s first stop for financial advice, information and inspiration.