Wills

I am ashamed to say dh and I don't have wills but it's on our list of things to sort out when we come home next month.

Can anyone recommend a lawyer in Wellington that can do this for us? I suspect we're a pretty straightforward case although we are about to purchase property here in Singapore, I have no idea whether that complicates anything? What about the fact we live overseas at the mo?

Basically I'm competely naive about all this stuff and woud appreciate any pointers in the right direction!

Ps please tell me we're not the only ones without wills. I feel like I suddenly became a grown up without realizing it and have to sort all this stuff out!

That reminds me! We need to get our wills done.
Also need to meet the superannuation broker and get DH back on super after we had to pull out of his last scheme.

We've put off getting wills for the same reason as Bizzy - no one will look after our kids as good as we will (haha!). Must get on to it though - sorry thats no help to any of your questions though

amme_eilyk wrote: we got ours done through public trust as you can get it all done in one go and its free.

Er well, it's free to make it, but they make all their $$$$ when you die.

It's cheaper all up to go to a solicitor and make it with them - it's usually a one off fee - they don't charge against your estate or anything.

jazzy wrote: Flissty wrote: amme_eilyk wrote: we got ours done through public trust as you can get it all done in one go and its free. Er well, it's free to make it, but they make all their $$$$ when you die. It's cheaper all up to go to a solicitor and make it with them - it's usually a one off fee - they don't charge against your estate or anything. they don't charge too much & you can change it as many times as you want & don't have to pay like you do a lawyer for every visit or call.

As a lawyer... if someone has made a Will with us and then wishes to update it, we do not charge for updating the Will. Of course every law firm is different.

Public Trust do charge for Wills if you do not use them as an executor. If you do use them as an executor it means they get to administrate your estate. The fees they charge for administration are definately more than ours!

Bowie, now that you have a child, it is important because you need to decide what happens to him should anything happen to you. I don't have a will either but need to get onto this. I have no possessions I care about, all I care about is my girl.

I don't think it "counts" if you have your own thing on a bit of paper. Not legal enough.

We don't have a will either, like Bizzy, we really don't have any ideas as to who to leave DS with if something were to happen to the both of us.
Although, it really is something we should get onto.

We made ours at the same time as we bought this property so we lumped all the legal fees into one. We've since updated it to include a guardian for DD and all subsequent children. It was fairly simple to do - just a quick chat with the solicitor who knew all the ins and outs. Can't help with a wellington recommendation though, sorry.

Random, we just went to the lawyer to get ours done today . How's that for topical.

MissShell wrote: I don't think it "counts" if you have your own thing on a bit of paper. Not legal enough.

It 'counts', as long as you get a couple of non-related, non-inheriting people to witness it. And, of course, that people know it exists and where it is when you die.

However, they recommend that you get a lawyer to do it, because if you make a stuff-up and make something not clear enough, it can get really messy. Also, lawyers know stuff that we don't think of. Like the fact that they executors of your estate shouldn't be the same people as you give custody of your kids to, or they could be in a position to fleece the kids inheritance (or, more likely, the lawyer said, to get pressure put on them by your then-17-y-o who wants to buy a fast car and says 'if you love me you'd get me access to Mum and Dad's money).

Edited by Hopes

Something else to consider is how to provide for your children if your partner should remarry. DH's grandparents both remarried, the stepmothers and their children got all the estates, and the children were left with nothing. Probably not as bad for adults, but if the worst were to happen, it's more than guardianship required to raise a child, there's the issue of any assets.

I personally would never use the public trust, my lawyer is more than reasonable. The last time we re-did both wills, the charge was $112.50, so not bad considering the legal advice we had at the time when drafting it.