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Why Having a Will is Important

Having a will is important

Written by R. A. Stewart

Having a will is important. It will ensure that your estate is distributed according to your wishes. A will is considered to be one of the most important documents you can have in place. You can appoint some trusted person such as a spouse or other family member to carry out your wishes for you. You can outline your wishes in your will such as whether you want to be cremated or buried, and any other details you wish to add.

Your will allows you to make bequests which is the gifting of property and money to specified organisations or money. There are many forms of bequests, they can be split into three categories:

  1. Specific bequests-which is the gift of something distinguishable such as money, property, a vehicle, or stuff you own.
  2. Residuary bequest-a gift of whatever remains after previous gifts have been distributed.
  3. Whole estate-a gifting of your entire estate.

What are the consequences of not having a will?

One is that a lawyer will be appointed to handle your affairs which means that a chunk of your estate will be gone in lawyers fees.

The second and main thing to consider is that if you don’t have a will, your property, whether that is in the form of money, home, car, and whatever you own will be distributed in line with the Administration Act 1969 which outlines who is entitled to your estate based on their relationship to you. The order of priority is:

  1. Your spouse, civil union partner, or de facto partner are first in line, then
  2. Children (regardless of whether the parents of the children were married).
  3. Parents
  4. Siblings
  5. Grandparents
  6. Uncles and aunts

If none of these are applicable then the New Zealand government will receive everything from the estate.

In New Zealand, when someone has been living in a de facto relationship with someone for three years or more then both parties will receive an equal share of the assets if the relationship splits up. It is not known how this applies when deciding who gets what if one of them dies before the three years is up. Best to get advice on this.

As for your kiwisaver; that is part of your assets which will be distributed to your heirs.

There are many reasons why having a will is important and the main one is that the wrong people may receive some of your estate.

Would you like it if some ratbag who is a drug addict or alcoholic received your assets after you die? The question has to be asked, “What will such and such do with your assets after you have gone?” 

You just have to open your eyes and see what they have done with previous windfalls to get your answer.

If you do not have a will then family members who don’t have anything to do with you could be entitled to a share of your estate.

Having a will is important to ensure that the right people get taken care of when it is your time to go.

About this article

You may use the contents of this article as content for your ebook or blog. The information is based on New Zealand law and may not be applicable to you if you are from a country outside of New Zealand, therefore, discretion is advised.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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Pros and Cons of Mature Dating

The Pros and Cons of forming a new relationship late in life

Written by R. A. Stewart

A guy in a backpacking hostel asked me if I was married, and I said, “I don’t see the point at my age”. He said, “Some people get married in their nineties.”. 

I told him, “I just don’t see the point in that”.

Honestly, why would one ever consider it at that stage of life?

I have heard it said, “Everyone deserves happiness in their life”.

That seems to suggest that the couple were unhappy being single and if that is the case then they have a problem.

There is a saying, “love is blind,” and that is an apt summary of these late in life marriages because there are financial implications for these relationships. The main one being property ownership because each partner in the relationship is now entitled to half of all assets owned by them both. That may be fair enough but that inheritance which was intended for children or grandchildren may not be legally binding. As I understand it, when a couple enters into a new relationship, (marriage) then it means their previous will is now null and void and that they have to write a new one.

It is likely that when one of the partner’s passes on then the relatives of the remaining partner will get everything.

That means nothing for the family of the deceased.

Now, this may sound morbid or selfish when one speaks about money and relationships, but all of this has to be thought through. 

It is rather naive to think that there are no gold diggers out there who are willing to take vulnerable men to the cleaners, and these women will hang out on the same dating websites as their prey.

As for who gets what when someone passes; here is the order of priority.

  1. The spouse or partner 
  2. Children of the deceased
  3. Parents of the deceased
  4. Siblings of the deceased

Note: In New Zealand, if a couple have been living together in a de facto relationship for at least three years then everything they own is considered matrimonial property. 

This includes Kiwisaver, New Zealand’s retirement scheme, but only those contributions made during the term of the relationship.

It is no secret that there are men of an older generation who have been the victims of dating scams. The number one red flag in these scams is that a woman half your age contacts you out of the blue.

The number two red flag is that she wants to hasten the relationship, and the number three red flag is that she sends you some revealing photographs of herself. 

If someone can tap into your ego, and make you feel good about yourself they are on their way to taking advantage of you. 

Another method scammers will use is to manipulate your emotions. She will come up with a hard luck story and tell you that she needs money or this or that will happen. This strategy is called “manipulation by guilt.”

It is when someone tries to get you to do something by making you feel guilty.

You would think that men in their later years have acquired enough experience of human character, but then, you know what they say, “Love is blind!”

A lot of romance scam victims are too embarrassed to come forward and go to their bank or the police, but if you know someone in this situation, let them know that it has happened to a lot of others too.It is also important to know what your grandparents are doing behind a computer screen because it could mean that your inheritance is being sent to some stranger in a far flung part of the globe. 

About this article:

This article is of the opinion and experience of the writer and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances, therefore discretion is advised. You are welcome to use this article as content for your blog or website.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com