Leaving a " Will " !

A lot of people have making a Will on their " to do " list but die before they get around to recording it on paper and ink.  That leaves the distribution of their assets reliant on state legislation and that varies widely state by state.

In Queensland the law is very specific.  A Will needs to be in writing and the signature of the person making the Will must be witnessed by two people who have no connection with the signatory.  Should a person die intestate the Public Trustee of Queensland divides the assets between that persons family, including the wife and any children.

In a curious twist, Queensland has just accepted a recorded message on a Smartphone as the legal Will of a man separated - but not divorced - from his wife.  This man had two children from that marriage and another from a previous marriage.  Without that spoken Will the assets would have been equally shared amongst those four people.

In a jovial mood during a work break it seems this man recorded a message on his Smartphone in which he directed that  " all my goods, my interest in property go to my wife " which he then named.
There were two other people present in that lunch room and neither had any personal connection with the man making that Will.

However, it took an application by the wife to the Queensland Supreme court for that judgement to recognise the spoken Will and each case is usually considered on it's merits.  That uncertainty is removed if a valid Will is forthcoming to distribute the assets.

Many people have a lawyer draw up their Will and this usually is at a cost well over a hundred dollars.  Statutory Will forms are available from most newsagents for a little as a couple of dollars and these contain prompts to ensure they comply with legal requirements.  There is no reason a person can not complete a perfectly legal Will using this method.

The law is very precise on how that persons signature should be witnessed.  The signatory and two independent witnesses should be in the same room when the Will is signed and all three should attest their signatures in the others presence.

It is not a legal Will to sign the document and have two other people separately sign as witnesses.  The witnesses must be gathered together and actually see the person making the Will sign in their presence.

The next important function is to make sure the Will can be promptly found when death occurs. Lawyers keep a copy of the Wills they supervise and this is recorded on a public register.  When the public use the forms available from newsagents it is their responsibility to arrange safe custody.  This could take the form of depositing it with their bank or their accountant, or making sure all members of the family are aware of its location.

Every year a surprising number of people die intestate.  The only sure way to know that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes is to leave a written instruction to be followed - and this is what is termed a " Will "  !  It is never too early to make a Will !