A Will is not an Estate Plan
I am always saying how Estate Planning is more than Wills, and I feel like every week someone says something to me that proves my point. Last week two different people complained to me about a friend’s Estate where there was a ‘valid Will’ but an estranged child came back and challenged the Estate (so that is two different people, two different Estates).
Yes, because Estate Planning is about more than a ‘valid Will’ or a document with Will written across the top. So often when I hear these stories the deceased person has not made any preparations for, or left any evidence in relation to this claim from the estranged child.
Dealing with expected claims
If the person has left evidence, unless it is prepared by a lawyer who is an experienced Estate litigator then it may not be relevant. I once read a statement from the deceased, a statement that accompanied a Will prepared by a lawyer and the statement was mentioned in the Will, explaining why a son had been disinherited. It included the phrase “and then he met that bitch of a woman”. That statement made the son’s case easier, not harder. Now most statements I read that clients prepare aren’t that bad, but they do focus on different things and different reasons than the Court might focus on.
If you have an estranged child then you need an Estate Plan, not a Will, an Estate Plan.
A will is a simple thing
The problem is that a Will is a simple thing. I have a whole separate blog post on that actually which you can read here. What is complex is death and grief. Add to that the need to deal with your Estate, including all the things that fall outside of a Will, and it can get very messy very fast.
Have you ever been an Executor yourself? Have you ever helped someone under a Power of Attorney? Have you ever gone to someone’s house and tried to search through their belongings and find the relevant documents? Have you ever had the joy of dealing with different bank accounts with very low balances, mortgages that have been paid out but not removed from the title, or insurance policies that cannot be found at the time that they are needed? You should definitely help the Executor out by dealing with some of this now, and actually along the way you will also help yourself out.
Funerals
Something that most people give very little consideration to is their funeral. Perhaps you have made a comment or two to a loved one about your Funeral but do you know what is actually involved in organising a funeral?
Do you know how your family will pay for your funeral? Do you want your Executor to plan your funeral or do you want it to be someone else?
A Will is not an Estate Plan
For years I have been telling my clients that Estate Planning is so much more than Wills. What I mean is, Estate Planning is not just bits of paper. There are so many decisions, and so many ‘non-legal’ decisions that have to be made before the bits of paper can be properly prepared.
I have been keenly aware for a long time that when a client comes to speak to me about their Wills I download a lot of information, including questions, that they may not have an immediate answer for, and questions that are often interrelated. They find this frustrating as they want to move forward but I keep holding up the process by asking follow up questions.
I have often thought I should have a book, or an app, or an online course that helps to step people through all of these decisions that happen around Wills. Then they could do it at their own pace and feel less frustrated by their letter tennis with me. It appears that I have finally gotten the ball rolling for one of those things, the book. I am hoping to roll out some sort of online course or email course soon, but I note the book did take me nearly two years.
The idea is that the book will give you information that you need to help you to properly instruct me with the information that I need. It will also help you to make the ‘non-legal’ decisions that happen around your Will documents so that you aren’t just doing Wills, you are doing a complete Estate Plan.
#estateplanningismorethanwills #estateplanningoverwhelm
Let’s get started
If you are thinking that you need an Estate Plan then you could either book a free 15 minute phone call with me to chat about what is involved, or you could fill out the form to get your matter rolling. If you click the Book Janis button you will get both of those options.