Wills.

My wife parents both died within a few months of each other,they had no will.

They only really had a house,a wreck of a car,and a few $ in the bank.

The family agreed on who was going to get what,and it actually didn't take a lot to sort it out,with a good soliciter.

But it did cost a few $$.

The biggest pain was her father was getting a war pension from the UK,and had a bank account over there that it was going into.

Sorting that out took over 2 years,and quite a few $.

For us we have a simple will,all signed,but things have gradually changed dramatically.

Wills need to be updated,which we are doing ATM.

We now have grandchildren to think about,our own SMS fund,Trusts,loans between companies,properties,etc.

I was executor for my father's will, and our solicitor's clerk screwed up the calculations for a large sum, so I know it's important to get it done right.

I was executor for my wife's will and also several years ago for a family friend. Both had wills.

Things to think about.

1. Make sure you have a will, and that it is up to date. The executor must have agreed, and write in one, preferably two backup executors. For example, in the case of the family friend, I was number one, followed by my son and then the legal firm that drew up the will.

2. Bank accounts. If an account is in the deceased's name, it will be normally frozen until probate is granted. If it is a joint account, the survivor should still be able to operate on it. Avoid having the family account with most of the money in one name.

3. Phone etc. I had problems because the mobile phone was in my wife's name, but Telstra eventually was sensible. The same could not be said for a loyalty card at Coles, where a large number of points disappeared. Don't usually shop at Coles now!

4. If there is a lot of money involved, and there is any possibility of anyone not listed as a beneficiary having even a remote claim, or if anyone could possibly think they were short changed, expect the will to be contested. In the case of the family friend, he left his house to one sister, and deliberately omitted his other sister - and said so in the will; but the other sister contested the will, dragging things out for about a year, capitulating almost literally on the courtroom steps - but cost the estate about $30,000. (And her "no win no pay" solicitor an estimated $60,000-90,000)

5. My wife's life insurance refused to pay up until probate was granted - took about three months.

I'm sure there are other points, but none of the above are things you want to deal with after losing a loved one.

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Originally Posted by edddo

Unfortunate John..stuff you just dont need in this or any context.
All wills have to go through the probate court - I would hope that if every beneficiary on the unsigned will agrees with it then it should go through without too much expense? Is there a solicitor involved that assisted with the drafting of the will? If everybody( every beneficiary) involved signed off on a carefully worded statement (drafted by solicitor) to the probate court to effect that all parties were involved in discussions that led to the writing of the will and that all parties agree that it is an accurate representation of her wishes perhaps that would help the process?
I feel for your situation.

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All of the above, really. We have to make affidavits. There have to be inventories. There has been a Barrister involved. $3,500 just for reading the affidavits. There will be a legal bill for about $15K probably.

having been through this last year when my mother passed, no matter what you put in your will, it is never 100%. it can always be contested and overturned

any aged care involved, you will need to go through probate and kiss serveral thousand $K goodbye, all the while they are making money they are holding.

our experience was that the bank where my mother had her money stashed away did everything in their power to delay and hinder the final settlement, causing it to go well past five months when it should have been done and dusted in two.

if you go through a legal eagle make sure they have the experience in wills.

glad i havent got to go through that again.

I think it's pretty normal that probate has to be granted before funds are released.
Make sure your solicitor doesn't overlook any monies owing from insurances, superannuation etc. Be fussy about details.

Sadly as a parent you think everyone will understand your wishes and abide by them when your gone, then this thing called greed takes over all logic and common sense and as Inc said ,even a will can be contested and its more common than not.

This issue wrecked my family when my dad died , and it took years to sort out as every time we came to an agreement, 1 of my greed driven siblings would contest it. Broke my poor mothers heart and she was never the same after seeing what greed had done to some of her kids. Because my parents had separated it was open slather. Then the public trustee got involved and believe me you don't want to go down that road.

The whole experience cost me a lot of money in trying to get it all given to my mother, which in the end never happened.

My wife and me have had wills since we got married , and we update them every 5 yrs as things change, kids get new partners etc etc .

My advice , get them done properly and keep them current as what you think will happen when you go compared to what does happen are worlds apart , just make it as easy as possible for those left to sort the mess out.

Cheers Ean

SWMBO & I better get ours re-done.
We had ours done back in 2002 so it may need an update.
Since then we have gained 2 X Grandkids, become Guardians of a couple of other kids, sold of most of our property, changed jobs 4 times & set up personal Super.

Problem is I hate discussing this stuff. SWMBO gets very stroppy at me when I just won't talk to her about it (& other death related issues).
My issue, I know, but just don't feel comfortable about it.

I know it's important, I remember the problems when my parents died without wills even though I was young, but I still don't want to really do it.

Jonesfam

Do it!

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Do it!

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Yep. I just turned 70 so how many years do I realistically still have 10? 15?

In our case, there is only our daughter to inherit but, should anything happen to her before we go, our estate (less money we are leaving to Guide Dogs) will need to be divided among our siblings.

To be honest, I need to check our Wills. If my siblings pre-decease us (and that's quite possible seeing as two of my sisters are presently being treated for cancer), will their "share" go to their children (neither sister is now married). If not, I can see the possibility of the kids contesting the Will.