Creating a will can be a difficult process involving plenty of legal and financial jargon that many of us would rather avoid – but they’re still incredibly important, and something that everyone should have in place (with the assistance of a lawyer!).
Bennett & Philip estate litigation lawyer, Charlie Young (pictured inset), has seen his fair share of wills – and some of them are downright odd. He recently shared some of his favourites:
- The Chicken Scratch Will: One lawyer recently helped to prepare the will of a terminally ill man – and made some very messy hand-written notes during the appointment intending to type them up later that day.
But when the gentleman unfortunately passed away the next morning, the lawyer had to get his own scrawled notes approved as a legal will. Not an easy feat.
- The Post-It Note Will: One woman simply left Post-Its throughout her will setting out what appeared to be her updated wishes. It took a year to get them legally confirmed!
- The Witnessed-But-Not-Witnessed Will: It’s crucial that a will-maker’s signature be witnessed by two people. So, when Mr Young received a will containing signatures for the witnesses but not for the will-maker, he had to act quickly.
The legal team spend a lot of time and money tracking down the ‘witnesses’, and then had to explain to the court why there was no signature to witness in the first place. Needless to say, it was confusing.
While getting started on your will can be a daunting process, don’t let your situation fall into any of the above categories! It’s always best to seek legal advice from the start of the process for piece of mind that your wishes will be properly adhered to.
