What is a will?
A will is a legal document which enables you to specify where and by whom your assets are distributed upon your death. Ideally you should review your will every 5 years or otherwise upon the occurance of a major life event to determine whether your will needs to be updated.
A will does not become operative until you die but Powers of Attorney operate during your lifetime and can govern legal and financial matters, medical treatment matters and lifestyle and accommodation decisions. Confronting our own mortality can be difficult and discussing these issues with loved ones is often avoided. Similarly, children, siblings, parents and business partners can also find these issues sensitive and confronting.
Here are some broad issues to consider in Estate Planning that we all need to be aware of:
- A Will is revoked by marriage
- A Will is not revoked by divorce, but any disposition to the ex-spouse provided for in a Will that pre-dates the divorce is revoked.
- Assets held as joint tennants pass to surviving tenants regardless of what is stated in the Will.
- Leaving a note or placing a sticker on an item does not have any legal effect where the Will does not replicate this bequest.
- Superannuation and life insurance do not necessarily pass to your estate to be dealt with in accordance with your will.
- Many people fail to update their nominated beneficiaries, often resulting in, say, an ex-partner receiving an unexpected bonus.
- Having no Will means your estate is automatically dealt with in the Courts in accordance with a preset formula.
