Writing a will

is no easy task but dying intestate is irresponsible.

We all know what is in the Senior Cat's will. At his request I was there when he last updated it - but I left the room before he signed it. He wants us to know so that there will be no misunderstandings later. His will is simple and straightforward and absolutely fair. I don't think anyone could argue otherwise.

My will is very similar to his. I have tried to make it simple, straightforward and absolutely fair to all concerned. I am fortunate enough to have the capacity to write my own but I did ask a legal colleague to check it.  Brother Cat and Middle Cat have similar wills. We all know what they contain. It's the responsible thing to do.

But there has been an interesting case in our courts recently. It concerns the estate of someone who did not write a will. He was a very wealthy man. His mother wanted to claim his estate under Chinese law. His wife wanted to claim his estate under our law. The judge was required to decide where he was actually domiciled - and thus whether Chinese law or our law of succession applied. The process was further complicated by the fact he was on a business trip to Japan when he died.

His mother does not sound as if she is a very pleasant person. She was clearly prepared to see her daughter-in-law destitute if possible. Her other son seems to have supported her in all this. Yes, the thought of $50m does do strange things to people.

This morning there is a piece saying the judge has decided in favour of the wife. He considered the man was domiciled here and that even under Chinese law the wife should inherit. I imagine there will be lawyers combing the judgment and trying to find grounds for an appeal. So far it has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to get this far.

It all reminds me of some of the cases we studied in Succession law. I found that one of the more interesting subjects. It was a compulsory subject - and rightly so. There were some strange things we learned - a legal will written on a banana skin, an unsigned will leaving everything to "mother", someone who did not inherit because he was simply out of the country for a short while when the testator died, and much more. The state of mind of testators was often the subject of appeal. And yes, people really do everything to their pets or to a home for dogs or cats. There was one will where someone left everything to someone he had never met. He simply liked the sound of the person in question.

Middle Cat has a friend who was caring for a man who was dying of cancer. This friend had cared for the man for some years. She was not paid to do this but she took him to medical appointments, cooked, cleaned and cared for him as if she was his partner. They did not marry but he moved into her home for the last two years of his life. She paid the bills and much more. His house remained empty but it contained things she bought for their joint use - a new refrigerator and a television set among them. His family made almost no contact. They were apparently only too happy to have her do all this.

And the moment he died? The family went into his property and changed the locks. They are challenging the will, a will in which they still inherit a considerable portion of his estate. They don't want her to have anything. She cannot even access her own goods. Any lawyer worth their fee should be telling them, "Don't fight this. You aren't going to win." 

Death is distressing enough without arguing over what is left. Writing a will may not solve all the issues - but not writing one at all is far worse.