How to score in another's Will
Brennans solicitors Lawyers - Property, commercial, disputes, Wills and estates
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Paul Brennan is the principal of Brennans Solicitors, a law firm located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, where he practices with his wife, Diane in the areas of business law, litigation, property and wills/estates.
Over the years, by working in various countries, he noticed how similar the law can be. He set out to explain the law in a simple and often humorous way.
He has written several books about law and lawyers.
Further details of his profile can be found on Linkedin.
We all know we should make a will, but if you don’t you may be long gone before it becomes a problem to those you leave behind. However, from your point of view it is absolutely unacceptable for anybody who may leave his or her money to you to die without one.
Now this has some implications. It is no longer enough to look after your immediate family and the occasional rich uncle. With the property boom even your most despised ne’er do well relatives could leave substantial sums to you, providing you are prepared to put yourself out a bit and, of course, put aside the bitterness of the years.
For those who can forbear from fighting with relatives and neighbours there is a killing to be made. Ironically, the more disagreeable the relative, the nearer you are to the top of the listas they may have fallen out with every other potential beneficiary.
But what if your relatives, friends and acquaintances are as useless and tight as you are as far as wills are concerned? Well, the most reliable but regrettably, illegal method, is to forge their will yourself. Alternatively, in emergencies, aggression and insistence can be presented as being thoughtful and well meaning. However, the safest approach by far is persuasion.
There are many persuasive reasons for making a will. For instance, there is nothing more satisfying than writing someone out of your will. However, you need to make one first. Once you have a will then writing someone out can be done cost effectively by codicil. Or you can decide on a complete redraft of the will to shake up all your beneficiaries.
The secret of a happy and comfortable old age is to ensure that your relatives, neighbours and friends make wills. So get on with it.
© Paul Brennan 2010-18. All rights Reserved.
Extract from "The Law is an Ass—make sure it doesn’t bite yours!
