HOW TO WRITE A WILL

Introduction
Death is an inevitable fact that we will all face at some time in our lives, be it the death of a loved one or our own eventual passing. What is also inevitable is the grief that we will encounter during such a time. Everyone copes differently, but what is important is the need to protect loved ones from
additional administrative and financial problems during such times. Everyone needs to think of how to prepare for such an eventuality and we need to do this when we are well and our minds are still clear. Preparation before death – estate planning – helps with making decisions about:

• What will happen to our money, belongings and the people we love after we die and
• Putting solutions in place so that people have instructions on what to do with our property, our savings and other financial matters such as pension and insurance.

In our law there are two ways of sorting out the property of a person who has died. One is when a person prepares a will before his/her death. This is called testate succession. The other is when a person dies without a will and we call this intestate succession.

Leaving a will is very important if you have property or children. But it is equally important that you take care when writing out your wishes. The law is very careful about wills. You have to put your wishes down in writing and you must use clear language so that any person reading the will can
understand it. If certain legal requirements are not met, then the Master of the High Court could reject your will and use the law of intestate succession to distribute your possessions. If you write your will properly there will be no arguments after your death and members of your family will not need to go to court to sort out any problems that can result from an unclear will.

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(Chapter 12 - Legal Aspects of Palliative Care)

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