Last will and testament

Press, 13 May 1981, Page 25

Last will and testament

■ The subject of wills inevitably comes up when one is talking to executives of a trustee company.

The problem always concerns the reluctance of people to make their wills, because they cannot see the need, because they think the.' are too young or becaus they feel that to make a wi. is to prepare for-death. Taking the last point firs it is one of those ironic fact

that people who make wills seem to be the ones who stay alive.

The average length of time between making a will and dying is about 14 years. A’s for being too young, a man with a young family puts his wife in an awkward position if he dies intestate. The law provides a statutory minimum legacy of $25,000 to a spouse, but above that figure, an estate is di-

vided one-third to the spouse and two-thirds to the children.

When most of that money is tied up in a house, the complications can be frustrating, especially where a property sale is involved.

Although the average person does not have this problem, anybody with an estate worth SIOO,OQO today should be thinking of doing something about it.