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You are here: Home / News / Wills & Estate Planning / Pitfalls of Will Kits

20/09/2013

Pitfalls of Will Kits

Making a valid Will is the only way you can ensure your assets will be distributed according to your wishes when you die. Studies have shown that at least 40% of Australians do not have a valid Will – do you?

When drafting a Will, it must conform to strict legal requirements otherwise the Courts may decide the Will is invalid. If this happens, your assets will be distributed according to a pre-determined Government formula and not as you had intended. If you have no surviving relations closer than cousins, in such circumstances your estate will pass to the Government.

By using a Will Kit, you risk making a mistake, creating uncertainty (which can render the whole of the Will or some clauses in the Will invalid) or lose opportunities for good estate planning which may include leaving assets in a tax effective way and preserve your assets.

The ordinary meaning of words is not necessarily the same as their legal meaning. Ambiguous wording is very common in homemade Wills and may result in substantial costs and delay in having the Supreme Court resolve the ambiguity. Therefore, the precise wording of a Will is a specialised and important legal task.

Once a Will has been drafted, it is important that the Will is executed (signed) properly. There are also strict legal requirements with respect to how a Will should be signed to ensure that the Will is valid. We have observed on countless occasions, notwithstanding detailed instructions/advice being given to persons executing documents including Wills, where the instructions/advice have not been followed and, therefore, the Will has not been properly executed in accordance with the requirements set out in the Succession Act 2006 (NSW).

You may have worked hard to build up your assets in your estate. We consider you are doing a disservice to yourself and your family if you do not seek legal advice from a Wills and Estate Planning Lawyer for the purpose of estate planning, ensuring you have a valid Will and that your wishes are properly recorded and carried out. It is, therefore, advisable to have your Will professionally drafted for this purpose.

Contact us to find out more or to arrange a consultation with an experienced Wills and Estates Planning lawyer in Sydney.

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