In this video, Wills & Estates Solicitor Harley Wilkinson talks about the importance and benefits of having a Will in place.
Transcript
My name is Harley Wilkinson, I’m a wills and estates solicitor here at OMB Solicitors. Today I’d like to talk to you about the importance and the benefit of having just a basic will.
So preparing a will is something that everyone should do at some point in their life and often I think young people don’t think that they need one, but your will is a really great opportunity for you to decide ultimately who you would like to inherit your property when you die, and it’s also an opportunity for you to decide who you would like to administer your estate in the event that you pass away.
I find often, when I’ve got younger clients coming in, or I’m just talking to friends of mine about wills and estates and powers of attorney, they often think it’s not necessary to have a will or other estate planning documents because their family members will just sort it out when they pass away.
As great as that sounds, unfortunately, it’s not the case, and you can imagine in the event that you lose a family member, you need time to grieve and to mourn. The last thing you want to do or think about is applying to the court to get appointed as an executor or as an administrator so that you can sort out their estate because they haven’t made a will.
So, you can take a lot of pressure off someone, off of your family members, simply by preparing a basic will. In the event that you pass away without a will, you’re said to die intestate.
What that means is that generally your family members, it’ll be a spouse or a parent or a sibling, will need to go and apply to the Supreme Court and get appointed to act as your administrator.
Now, that’s a very complicated and timely process, and that can be avoided simply by preparing a very basic will, naming an executor or executives, and distributing your estate. We do a whole lot of estate planning and estate administration matters here at OMB Solicitors, so, that’s something that we can certainly assist with.
If you want to give us a call, we offer initial consultations over the phone or in-person, where we can discuss your estate planning affairs and just decide what’s going to be appropriate for you and make the most sense for you and ensure that if you’ve got children or pets or other family members that need to be looked after in the event you pass away.
If you’d like to have a conversation with a team member or speak to a solicitor about preparing a will or any other estate planning documents, please don’t hesitate to reach out, give us a call. I’d be very happy to have a conversation and discuss your estate planning needs and see what we can do for you.