Please write a will!

I am going to be more serious than usual on a Sunday morning and say, "Please write a will!"

If you haven't already done so then this is one of the most important things you can do. I know none of us want to think about this but the consequences of not doing it can be horrendous for the people you love and for whom you want to care. 

The subject came up twice yesterday, once while I was talking to a neighbour. He came over, apparently casually, to ask my advice about changing his will. One of his children has made a disastrous marriage and he wanted to be sure that the partner could not benefit. It's much more complicated than I am competent to handle but I explained why he needed to see his solicitor. (He's the sort of man who actually has a solicitor so that helps.) He asked some questions and I know he will actually make an appointment to get the situation sorted out.

And then, late yesterday, someone phoned me about something else entirely. Somehow we got onto the topic of her right to live in the house she is currently living in. That situation is complicated too. It is further complicated by the fact that she knows nothing whatsoever about the law. If she had known something about the law she might never have agreed to do what she did. It was certainly to her disadvantage. Now, unless she writes a new will, the one person she does not want to benefit will end up getting everything. 

Writing a will is not a complicated business. It is what you want to say in it that can be complicated. My will is a one page affair. I wrote it myself because I am competent to do that.  It makes two bequests and then a division of my assets - whatever they happen to be at the time of my death.  A solicitor friend who read it over for me was kind enough to say, "Well that's perfectly plain. Nobody can argue with that." 

Why did I get someone to read it over when I know I am competent to write it? Because it is a very important document and I needed to be certain that I had said what I intended to say.

But, when I move from here, I know I am going to have to update my will because my circumstances will have changed. It is something people don't always recognise.

That is the problem for the person who needs to write a new will. Her circumstances changed. She should have written a new will when her husband died because there are complications but she was unaware of those.  She also needs an "enduring power of attorney" and an "advance care plan" to be put in place. Her particular circumstances make these things essential. There are forms available for the latter two things. They aren't difficult to sort out. We will meet and I'll help her get to the point where she can get the forms signed with a minimum of fuss. 

I don't mind doing this because, without it, she will soon be even more vulnerable than she is now. She has been taken advantage of and it is going to be hard enough to face that. Writing a new will should help. 

We all need a will, even if we think we haven't much to leave. When we do have something to leave it is even more important. I once saw the will of a farmer. It was written on the back of a docket from the local town's "stock and feed store". He had written it standing at the counter and got the manager and an assistant to witness it. They had been talking about wills because the farmer said he was "feeling a bit rough".  The farmer took it another couple of hundred metres to the bank to deposit - and then collapsed on the floor. He died three months later.  The difference the will made was the difference of a lifetime for his family. More than once they have said,"We are so glad Dad made that will when he did."

Make a will? Yes, I have. I am glad I have.