I received this email recently asking for advised. Let’s say her name is Sandy.

Sandy wrote
My father died interstate without writing a will. My mother was made the administrator for his estate. Before my father’s estate can be resolved, my mother passed away. She has written a will before she died. Her will named 2 executors.

Who is now the legitimate administrator for my father’s estate. She has savings in fixed deposit in bank. Who is to distribute this? Two of her beneficiaries has died and 5 beneficiaries remain.

Situations like this can happen even though most people think it is not common. The email came from overseas so I’m not familiar with laws there. However, the best way to avoid this from happening in the first place is to:

1. Write your will and make sure your Will is updated
2. Have backup executors preferably one that is a trustee company

Read about when to update your Will here

Dr. Christine Gill has been awarded the right to inherit her parents’ £2.3 million farm. Despite her father and mother Wills leaving the estate to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), she won her legal battle to claim property belonging to her family after being disinherited in her parents’ Wills.

Dr. Christine Gill, a university lecturer, had assisted with the farm’s upkeep for many years, alleged that her mother had been unwillingly coerced into making the Will by her husband, despite previously voicing a dislike of the RSPCA.

A High Court ruling also deemed that the RSPCA acted unreasonably because it refuse to accept mediation or dispute resolution procedures. The court ordered the charity to pay the majority of the legal costs.

I was browsing the internet and came across several freak accidents that happened this past few days. Some situation which we thought is relatively safe can turn out to be quite the opposite.

For example Tracy Boland, 46, suffered fatal injuries when she collided with a 26-year-old Dutch woman on the Kitzsteinhorn mountain in Kaprun, Austria. The accident is a mystery. They were in a relatively easy ski area and the conditions were good i.e the slope is very broad and is for beginners. There were no witnesses and both skiers were not skiing very fast. Apparently Tracy suffered a severed aorta in the collision.

In the next example, a 15 year old school girl was killed when her scarf got entangled with a go kart she was driving. The scarf strangled her as it tightened around her neck. This happened in Hong Kong over the Chinese New Year break. The full news is here.

Finally, in Burnley, UK, 62 year old John Temme died after a faulty handbrake caused his car to roll down the driveway hitting him in a freak accident. Apparently, he had intended to leave home in his Volvo with the intention of going to watch football. Perhaps he had forgotten something and went back to the house. Whatever the reason, we’ll never know. It seems he didn’t apply the handbrake to the highest notch and the car rolled down and struck him. The only logical verdict I can record is one of accidental death.” via Burley Express

Never know when our time is up.