It seems morbid to be thinking of wills, but making your last will and testament is an important way to ensure that your assets will be divided the way you intended them to be divided. It doesn’t matter if you’re not rich or feel that you don’t have many possessions, wills are still important at any age. If you recently got married or had a child, making a proper will can be an important way to ensure that your family is taken care of, if you happen to die.
If you die without a will, the government or court will decide how your money,
property or possessions will be allocated. This is done through laws that stipulate
who should get what percentage and this may not be the way you wanted your money
and possessions to be distributed.
A will becomes that much more important, if you are an unmarried couple, including
gay couples. Unmarried couples under the law cannot inherit from each other,
unless there is a will. If there is no will, then the assets will by law go
to the person’s next of kin and not to the partner. This may create serious
financial problems for the surviving partner.
If you are married with children under the age of 18, it is prudent to think of making a will. You need to consider who you want the guardians of your children to be, if in the worst case scenario both parents die. By using the will you can appoint the guardian of your choice, otherwise the court will appoint one of your parents as the guardian and that may not be what you want. You can also stipulate in your will, how your assets should be used, for example, to be kept for the children or sold to cover debts and expenses.
Also, inheritance tax should not be taken lightly. You will need professional advice on how to deal with inheritance tax, especially if you have valuable assets, property or large sums of money to bequeath to someone. By making a proper will, you may be able to reduce the amount of inheritance payable by your dependents.
A will is never done. Don’t consider having written a will at some point in time will suffice for the rest of your life. A will needs to be updated if your circumstances change; such as purchase of a new property, divorce or additional children. These changes need to be reflected in your will to make it accurate and legally binding.