21 February 2012, Pippa Colman

I have a “thing” about Wills; I want every adult to have one.

I ask every new client, when they come into the office, whether they have a current Will which reflects their current wishes. In the past year, only two clients have answered “yes” to this question.

For some reason, some people put off making a Will (there is no truth to the rumour that you die suddenly if you make a Will). If you don’t make a Will, then government Legislation says what will happen to your estate, ie the property you leave behind after your death.

If you don’t have a Will, you are not alone.  Many wealthy/well known people have died without Wills.  They have left behind a big mess for their loved ones and litigation for their lawyers.  Examples are: -

• Pablo Picasso, the famous artist, who died in 1973.  It took six years to settle his estate at a reported cost of US$30M and what was left was eventually divided up amongst six heirs;
• Heath Ledger, the actor, died in 2008 leaving a Will which left everything to his parents.  The Will was made before the birth of his daughter, Matilda who therefore received nothing.  Fortunately, Ledger’s parents said they would look after Matilda;
• Jimmy Hendrix died without a Will in 1970.  For more than 30 years after his death, during which time his estate continued to generate money from royalties, there were fights over his estate;
• The author Stieg Larsson who wrote “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” died without a Will.  His partner of 32 years received nothing. Swedish Law said his estate should be divided between his father and his brother.  His family gave his partner the couple’s apartment where she lived at the time of his death;
• Howard Hughes, the eccentric and sometimes unwashed billionaire, died in 1976 and left no legitimate Will, as opposed to the forged Will found after his death.  After taxes, his estate was divided amongst his 22 cousins;
• Closer to home, in 1990, Australian multi-millionaire, Robert Holmes a Court, who was then one of the country’s richest men, died without a legal Will.  He had had a Will prepared. He spent months carrying it around in his briefcase and just did not get around to signing it.  Luckily for his wife, his children did not claim their substantial entitlements under the intestacy rules and it was left intact for his wife, who has apparently increased it due to careful management.

If you have a Will which says what you want it to say, read no further.

If you don’t have a Will however, then you have to ask yourself whether you are going to make a Will and make it easy for those left behind when you die or are you going to leave it to the Government to carve up, according to the law rather than your wishes and/or for the relatives to fight over. 

Did you know that if you die and you don’t have a next of kin, then the government will take your estate? What a waste!

If you want to have a say in who gets what after you die, then don’t wait, ring your solicitor and make an appointment today to have your Will prepared and signed.