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Have you made a will? If not, why not?

According to statistics, almost 70% of people have not made a will. Is that because the making of a will is an admission of one’s mortality? More often than not, we are requested to draw a will at short notice because a client is leaving for holiday or is about to have an operation. A will is a very important document and should not be left to the last moment as an afterthought.

If you have not made a will, we urge you to do so without delay. On the other hand, if you have a will, perhaps now would be a good time to revise it, because of changed circumstances.

Please remember that if you have minor children and die intestate (without a will), the laws of intestacy will apply and whatever your minor children become entitled to may be locked into the Guardians' Fund until they attain the age of majority. Not only can the funds not be touched, but the interest that is earned in the Guardians' Fund is entirely nominal.

Estate planning tools

Bregmans can assist you in the following areas:

• choosing beneficiaries
• estate planning by parents with minor children
• wills
• inter vivos (living) and testamentary trusts
• tax-avoidance and tax reduction methods
• trusts for people in second marriages, or for those leaving property to a disabled person
• planning for the handling of medical and financial decisions if one becomes incompetent
• dealing with an estate that is either insolvent or so heavily in debt that there are insufficient assets to pay the debts and legacies
• establishing a neutral referee in dividing up an estate among quarrelling heirs or relatives
• dealing with an estate comprising properties or a business worth a great deal of money