Leaving a Will need not be a nightmare. But without one you haven’t any control over what becomes of your worldly goods when you die. Don’t let the language baffle you – it’s fairly simple.
If you don’t possess a valid will, you have no power over how your worldly-goods will be managed in the occurrence of your death. Many people mean to make a last will and testament but never get around to it and it produces a tremendous amount of hardship and even inconvenience to anyone you leave behind.
There is no mystery to the making of a last will and testament. There are a number of positions where it should be deemed as vital. If you have no relatives, for instance, then your worldly possessions could go to the government in the end.
It may look confusing and it is tempting to put it off. You’re considering drawing up a will and you are aware there is help at hand – maybe you’re thinking of approaching a professional firm of will-writers. If you’re bothered that you’re not going to understand what they’re saying, here is some of the terminology you don’t come across every day
One of the first words you will hear is estate: This is the total amount of all you own. You need to add the value of any property, investments, bank accounts, personal possessions. Then you need to deduct anything you owe, like mortgages or loans. The sum you’re left with is the value of your estate.
Then there’s the word bequest: This simply means an actual item or a sum of money you would like to leave to a close relative or maybe the children. A beneficiary is a person or organisation, such as a charity, which profits by a gift from your estate. Exectors is the term for the people who you opt to name in your will to put in for probate and to oversee your estate. There could be 1, 2, 3, or even 4 exectors.
The legal document is called Probate, which is given to the executor’s following your death . This document enables them to have the power to oversee your estate in agreement with your requirements.
If you were to die intestate it means, that you have passed away without leaving a valid last will and testament. There are regulations about intestacy which will apply to resolve how your estate will be calculated and distrubted. This might be vastly different from what you would have visualised or sought.
An administrator is the jargon for a person who will finally see to the estate of anybody who has not written a last will and testament. It ought to be stated that an administrator will control the estate strictly within the limits of the laws of intestacy.
If you want to change your will in any way – for instance a new baby is born and you would want to leave the child a gift – then you can put in a codicil which is a legal document and must be kept with the will. Your present will should not be changed in any shape or form and the codicil will need to be signed and witnessed just as the first one was.
Legacy stands for a gift bestowed in your will and normally pertains to money. When the expression residue is used it refers to what remains in your estate after the sharing up of gifts has been completed, and all debts, taxes and fees due have been paid.
If a trust is talked about, this makes a reference to a legal arrangement which is constructed to store something – property or money – in trust for another person.
Please do not put off making a last will and testament, you will have peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be carried, out in the way you want.
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