Sandecki is a columnist in Terrace, B.C. This item originally appeared in the Terrace Standard.
If you’ve put off writing a will for fear it might shorten your life, quit worrying and consult a lawyer. Don’t procrastinate.
No matter what age or how healthy you are, you should always have a will that is up to date and valid. It can easily be changed to keep pace with your evolving life.
You needn’t be old, married, a parent or own property to consider writing a will.
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When I joined the RCAF at age 20, my only possession was a red 120-base Hohner accordion.
But no sooner had we been issued uniforms and assigned bunks than we were sat down as a class, handed a printed will, and instructed to sign after naming our next of kin.
Having a will lets you determine who will benefit from your assets. It also allows you, not a court, to decide who will be guardians of your children.
A will assures what you have worked so hard to earn will not be squandered on lawyers and probate fees.
If you die without a will, your estate must be probated by a court before your affairs can be concluded.
Depending upon the value of your estate and its complications, probate fees are up to 1.4 percent of the value of the estate, or $1,400 for every $100,000 of estate value.
Some estates may involve a complicated tax situation, many assets to be sold, debt disputes or lawsuits against the estate. These may take a decade to settle. By then, lawyers’ fees will have eaten up much of your estate’s value.
My husband and I wrote wills nine years ago, leaving all our estate to whichever of us survived. We owned everything jointly except a 2005 Chev Colorado pickup.
The morning after he died, his executor and I retrieved his will from the safety deposit box, visited the funeral home and made arrangements for his cremation as he wished.
Next day, with his death certificate and a certified copy of my marriage certificate, we went to the employment insurance department to apply for death benefits.
At the insurance office, when I asked to transfer the truck to my name, I was told I’d have to transfer it to the estate, go to court to have it probated, pay probate fees and wait months.
A lawyer let us know since the truck was the only estate and worth less than $25,000, it could be transferred to my name within an hour with two notarized forms.
A will relieves the family of uncertainties at a time when they are stressed and confused.
A will says to survivors, “I love you.”
