Do You Need a Will?
- Sooner or later we all die. No one knows exactly when.
- If you don’t make a will you forfeit your right (and duty) to ensure that your loved ones are properly catered for after your death.
- A professionally-drawn will also greatly reduce the risk of your grieving family having to deal with uncertainty as to your wishes, bitter infighting and expensive litigation.
What happens if you don’t leave a valid will?
If you leave no valid will when you die, our “law of intestacy” applies, with the following consequences –
- Your assets are distributed according to law, not according to your wishes. That could leave your family very vulnerable - see below.
- Your deceased estate is administered by an executor in whose appointment you have had no say. Not ideal – rather protect your loved ones by choosing in your will an executor you can trust to act with integrity and speed.
- Equally, you have no say in who is to be appointed guardian of your minor children, nor trustee of a trust to protect their inheritances (particularly important if you are the last-surviving parent).
- Your children’s’ inheritances will sit in the statutory Guardians Fund until they turn 18 – very much last prize considering past allegations of fraud, corruption and chaotic administration in the Fund.
Who gets what without a will?
Where you are survived by at least one relative, your net assets (everything you own, less your debts and the costs of winding up your estate) are divided up between your heirs in an order of preference (a) dictated by law and (b) dependent on how you are related to your heirs.
Firstly, if your spouse and/or your descendants (children, grandchildren etc.) survive you, they inherit everything according to set rules (see the “Beware: You could leave your spouse struggling to survive” section below for more).
Things get more complicated if you leave behind neither spouse nor descendants. Your parents, brothers/sisters and other relations all potentially have a look-in.
Beware: You could leave your spouse struggling to survive
If you find it difficult to stop procrastinating on making a will, here’s a thought that may help.
Without a will, if your spouse survives you together with children (or other descendants), he or she will, regardless of age or circumstances, inherit only the greater of R250,000 or a “child’s share”. In a nutshell, your spouse will have to split your estate with your descendants and you could be sentencing him or her to a life of financial hardship, all for want of a simple will.
Similarly, you may want to make special provision for any of your descendants who are particularly vulnerable - perhaps unable to fend for themselves through illness or handicap.
It boils down to this – make your will now so that it is you who decides who gets what in your particular family circumstances.
Keep a look out for our news flash later this week regarding wills week for the drafting of free wills at our offices from 17 to 21 September 2018!
Provided by Van Zyl Kruger
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