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Having the Will to do it ... |
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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I recently returned from my annual vacation to the UK where I have a chance to spend some time with my older children too who are Boarders at Kelly College in Devon. One evening, we walked into town for a meal and met up with my mother-in-law who joined us for dinner. It was a great evening and while walking home we were nearly wiped out by a rogue intoxicated driver who jumped a red light and mounted the kerb narrowly missing my family and I by inches.
The point I am making here is life can turn 180 in an instant from what was an enjoyable evening to a potential catastrophe. It does not bear thinking about what could have happened but I thank my lucky stars that it did not. However, what I did do the following day was review my Will and if you want to know what happened,
Like most of us, I have not reviewed my Will for sometime and there were glaring errors in its structure. For example, one of my Executors had died some years ago and the list of beneficiaries was incorrect. Moreover, my Wife could not find it in the first place! This is a critical document for any family in the event of a death in the family since it is a legal instruction to an Executor(s) on how you want your estate to be distributed in the event of your demise. If you die without a Will (to die intestate) the problems associated with Probate are exacerbated tremendously and hamper those benefits passing to those who need it most in a timely fashion; in some cases up to 2 years!
The other issue I had forgotten was a Will for my Wife. So we went through the exercise of updating an creating a Mirror Will for ourselves which we now know is up to date and both know (including our Executor) where it is in case of emergency. We also drew up an EPA – Enduring Power of Attorney since the Will only becomes effective in death. Had one of us been injured and incapacitated by the incident, the EPA would allow the other to manage our affairs accordingly giving authority over banks accounts, investments, property and insurance to name but a few.
I hope my incident is enough to make you review your Will or indeed (as I find with many Clients) obtain one in the first instance. You will need a Will if you have assets in various parts of the world and it may make sense to have one legally translated in the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, if you have done this exercise recently, it may be that you have not drawn up an EPA. If you are not sure about any of this and you would like more information, please go to the Will section and contact us today 8004558 where one of our Consultants (member of the Will Writing Society) and our Legal Associates can guide you accordingly. We provide a Will Questionnaire in the Wills section which is a useful guide to drawing up your Will – do it today if you have not done so before. |
