Introduction
Many people are dutiful in writing wills. But they often do so under the wrong assumptions and without an understanding of the chief benefits of writing a will. Namely, many people assume that writing a will is the only way to manage and distribute one’s possessions after death. But this is not the case. As mentioned in another blog topic, there are also trusts. However, if you do not create a trust or will, this does not mean that your possessions are simply left to no one. Instead, it means that you have died intestate and have lost the right to choose who you prefer to get your possessions. In intestacy, the state assumes control of your possessions and will distribute the possessions based on predetermined rules that often are contrary to what you would have elected to do prior to your death. Maintaining control, though, is not the only benefit to writing a will as I will address in this blog entry.
What is a Will?
First, it is important to understand what rights are associated with writing a will. A will is a legal instrument that permits a person to make decisions on how his possessions will be managed and distributed after his death. This is a key aspect of a will. It has no effect until the person who makes the will, called a testator, is dead. In effect, a will has no legal effect when a person is alive (see blog entry – Trusts: An Alternative to Wills).
Benefits of a Will – Avoid Intestate Succession
In Jamaica,a will gives you control over the management and distribution of your possessions. If you do not create a will, then you lose the right to choose who gets your possessions and the state will determine how your possessions are distributed. The process of the state determining how possessions of an estate are distributed is called intestate succession or the result of dying intestate. Please note that a person can also die partially intestate because the will does not dispose of all of his property or personal belongings. And this is where the problem of intestacy lies. Briefly, intestate rules in Jamaica typically provide that the surviving spouse and children receive the entire estate in varying proportions. In the event of partial intestacy, the rules of succession will be applied to the property or personal belonging that has not been assigned a specific beneficiary. This means that, again, the spouse or children will be the default beneficiaries even though you may have provided for them in other parts of the will. Thus, if you know that you would like to leave specific items in your estate to friends, distant relatives or charitable organizations, it is critical that you create a will that specifies these preferred persons or entities as beneficiaries.
Benefits of a Will – Minimize Contests over Your Possessions
A properly drafted will reduce the likelihood of individuals making competing claims for items in your estate and enable a timely distribution of the estate to desired beneficiaries. You will be able to best preserve your estate by determining who stands to benefit from a distribution of possessions. In effect, this is another aspect of how a will allows you to control what happens to your possessions after your death.
Benefits of a Will – Maximize Access
A will can be revised an unlimited amount of times while your alive. A will is only final at your death. As a result, it is important that you draft a will and work with a lawyer before you reach an old age or are beset with sickness. You just