What To Consider When Writing A Will
Nov 24th, 2007 by Editor
Okay, after hearing all the horror stories and problems they leave behind when people die without writing a Will, you’ve finally decided to write a Will. Now, the question is, where do you start? Here are some basic steps you need to take.
1. Decide on your Executor . This is the person or persons who will administer your estate when you pass away. By the way, your assets are called estate when you pass away. Choosing an Executor is quite important if your assets are substantial. The Executor must be honest and trusthworthy. If you don’t have confidence in anyone, then you can choose a trust corporation to be your executor. If your assets are not that large, then it is quite common to select one or more of your beneficiaries to be the Executor. You need not finalize the person, but at least have 2 or 3 names as potential people.
2. Choose a Guardian . If you have children below age 18, you should nominate someone as a Guardian. Usually, your spouse is the guardian but you nominate a guardian in case both of you die together or your spouse pass away first. Guardians would most likely be relatives or friends who love your children. Again, speak to them first and get their consent. I’m sure you don’t want to be taking care of someone’s kids one day out of the blue, neither should you do it to them.
3. Beneficiaries . These are people who would benefit from your assets. Usually, they would be family, relatives and/or friends, but it can include charity organization or anyone at all. If you choose to leave everything to only one person say your spouse, then have alternative beneficiaries in case your spouse don’t survive you.
4. List Your Assets . Write a list of your assets including property, bank accounts, shares, vehicles, jewellery and anything of value. This is to make sure you don’t miss out anything.
5. Who gets what ? This is where you decide who gets your assets. Besides the larger item like property or cars, if you intend to give a certain asset to more than one person, it is better to specify using percentage rather than a fixed dollar value. With inflation, RM 50,000 today is worth very little 10 to 20 years down the road.
Some things to consider. Many people overlook this when writing a Will. They want to be fair and will giving a property or properties to be share with a few people, for example 2 or more. The problem that might arise later on is one party might want to keep the property and the other might want to sell his share for money. And if the person who wants to keep the property, can’t afford to buy the other part, then unpleasant situation can happen.
Vitalwills will run through your intentions and give suggestions about distributing your estate in a practical way, without creating problems later on.
Contact us to find out how to write your Will