WILL

Lecturer: Roy Poan

FACULTY OF BUSINESS, PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY

Before you Die
 Do a physical and non physical items inventory (list all
your property above $100)
 Assemble a credit cards & debts list
 Make an organization & Charitable memberships list
 Send a copy of your assets list to your estate planner
 Review you Bank acc, other investment acc, life
insurance policy & annuities for the beneficiary
designations and signed TOD (transfer on death)
 Create a Will
Will
 Is written document which states an individual’s Wishes as to how,
when and who he or she wants his/her property to be disposed of
at death
 It is revocable when the individual is still alive but irrevocable at the
moment of death
 To provide the executor clear guidance and avoid “intestacy” (the
condition of an estate of a person who dies without a will, and owns
property with a total value greater than that of their outstanding
debts)
 Eliminate estate tax and other transfer cost
 It is a legal document and must witnessed signed and notarized
 Can be alter and the document will be called “CODICIL” which
amend and revoked prior will. It must be signed with the same
formalities as the will
Intestacy
 Should the decedent die intestate with a spouse but no children, the
spouse takes the entire estate.
 If a spouse and children survive, each takes some portion of the
estate.
 If only the decedent’s children survive, they take the entire estate.
 If no spouse or children survive, the estate goes to the decedent’s
parents, and if they do not survive, then to the decedent’s siblings or
their heirs.
 The next level of intestate takers is the decedent’s grandparents and
their heirs (the aunts, uncles, and cousins of decedent).
 If none of the decedent’s heirs survive, the next takers are the issue
of the decedent’s pre-deceased spouse.
 If none of the above survive, the estate goes to the next of kin.
 The state is the final taker.
Who can make a will
 A person of legal age
 A person who is capable to make contract.
 The nature an extent of his property
 The natural objects of his bounty (Who is his next of kin)
When to amend the will (create
Codicil)
 When the are significant changes I the value of the
property that is intended to be distributed
 When the testator has moved from one state to another
 Where there have been changes in family circumstances
such as births deaths, marriages and divorces etc
 Where the personal representative, guardian or trustee
can no longer serve as originally expected
 When tax laws changes
 Where changes in business ventures occur
 Where disposition or other objectives change
Challenge with the will
 The client lacked mental capacity
 The client was influenced at the time of the draft
 The will is not executed accordingly
 The will was forgery
Why reviewing a will

 Checking if the information is correct. (Investment

with the investment advisor etc)
 Other expenses during the liquidation of the estate
 Changes in the law
Reviewing a will (Introductory clause)

1. Identify the client (Name spelled correctly and

including AKA)
2. Domicile of the client (Address, citizenship)
3. Checking whether this is the last will and revoking
prior will.
4. The next step
 Administering the clients' estate (payment of debt and taxes
and then payment of legacies /a gift of personal property
or money to a beneficiary )
 Disposes of legacies and describe obligations
Debt Clause
 Include payment of debts, expenses and costs
 Purposes:
 To note the origin from which debt will be paid
 To establish as debts items that might not otherwise be considered
the client or testator’s obligations
 Does the testator have rights to property held in the trust of
another person
 Will the beneficiaries receive more or less than the client
intended when the will was drawn.
 Did the will include detailed of funeral arrangement
 Does the client intend that “payment of debts” left to a
specific individual.
Tax Clause
 If there is no tax clause or if it does not adequately
address the payment of a particular death tax
state law will allocate the burden of taxes among
the beneficiaries
 The will must provide the name who pay all the
taxes
Tangible personal property clause
 Purpose is To provide for who will receive personal
property and the terms under which they will receive it
 Have the client include all the belonging
 Has provision been made in case the item left by to a
beneficiary is not owned by the decedent at death
 Who should received the insurance if items are lost
 Provision for personal effect certain property
 Be as detail and precise as possible. Avoid the word
“the contents”
General check up legacies
 Has the property been left outright to a minor who
is legally incapable of handling it?
 Are all beneficiaries named alive? Are there
backup beneficiaries?
 Are the gifts conditioned and the conditions on
events that are impossible and in violation of the
law.
 If the client is intentionally omitted something check
the validity
Real Estate clause
 The purposes are:
 Specify which real estate is to e disposed of under the
will.
 To handle problems where the property has bee sold or
destroyed prior to the testator’s death.
Intangible asset
 Has provision been made in the event the primary
beneficiary does not survive the decedent?
 Does the will spell out what gift is made If the
decedent does not possess at the time of death, the
stock mention in the will? What if the stock had
been sold but new stock was purchase with the
proceeds? Stock split etc
Residuary clause
 The purposes are:
 Transfer all assets not disposed of up to this point
 Provide alternative disposition in case the primary beneficiary has
died or the trust to which probate assets
 (i.e All the rest, residue, and remainder of the property that I own at the
date of my death, real and personal, tangible or intangible, regardless
of where it is situated, I leave to my daughter, Larrissa Grieg. But if
Larrissa Grieg does not survive me, then I leave the said property in
equal shares to my grandchildren, Ronald Reimus and Reginald Reimus
or to the survivor of them, per stirpes.)
 Check with the closest relatives and is it contradicting to the
purpose?
 Exceptions in the will (children place in the care or not yet fully
capable to handle to estate
 Does the will address the possibility of birth of a child to the client?
 If the beneficiary dies, who should receives the estate.
Power Clause
 The purposes are:
 Give the executor specific power and authority over
and above those provided by the state law to enable
the executor to conserve and manage the property
 Set boundary and limit the executor authority
 Provide authority to continue a business
 Protect the executor against suit by other beneficiaries

 Are there any asset requires special powers to fulfill

the desire of the client
 Conflict of interest
Appointment of fiduciaries clause
To administer the testor’s estate and any trist that the will
creates
To give the executor the appropriate power to act on
behalf of the estate and carry out the terms of the will
How the executor is to be compensated
The name guardian and successor of any minor child of
the testator. Is he/she willing and able to perform as a
guardian?
Specify the authority of and decision making process for
co-executor
Testator’s signing clause
 The purposes are:
 To establish that the document is intended to be the
testator’s last will
 To meet the statutory requirements and the conclusion
of the will
 State the date

 Check for no other points after it and number the

page
 All the copies signed
Attestation clause (Witness clause)
 Purposes are:
 Witnessthe testator’s signing
 Comply with the statutory requirements

 Comply with the law requirements

 Check whether the three witness have signed in all

the documents and copies
 Are the witnesses beneficiaries under the will? (it is
inadvisable)
 Information about the witness (address, relation etc)
Other clause
 Tax consideration
 If the beneficiary disclaim any interest in the estate