Even with the best intentions, you can cause mayhem from the grave if your will doesn't say what you really mean.
We all know the danger of good intentions ... that they don't always have the desired outcome. In fact, sometimes quite the opposite. This is never truer than in the drawing up of a will.
Wills have split up families, caused children to become estranged from one another, and led to horrific court battles - often because the person who died didn't state clearly and unequivocally what he or she actually meant.
Consider this example. John writes in his will, "I bequeath my boat to my son and the remainder of my estate to my daughter." Lo and behold, the two children have fought since childhood and now they're at it again, because the daughter believes that the trailer on which the boat rests is hers. After all, dad expressly stipulated everything except the boat.
And what of the will that simply states that John bequeaths all his cash to his daughter, Penny? He has good intentions, and the will is put away until it is needed. But a potential problem looms: what exactly is cash? Is it the notes and coins that John had in his wallet on the day he died? Does it include the fixed deposit at the bank, or perhaps the returns of the insurance policy? Or perhaps it's simply the balance in John's cheque account?
The bottom line is that good intentions need to be backed up with specific instructions when it comes to the drawing up of a will: "I bequeath the balance of my cheque and savings account to my daughter, Penny." Say exactly what you mean, or you could be the cause of your children ending up in court and letting a judge decide what you meant in your will.
Your will is one of the most important documents you will draw up in your life. It can have far-reaching consequences for your loved ones, because it is the one document that can affect all the assets you have accumulated over the years. This is why it is so important for you to make sure from the beginning that this document is legal and that it serves and protects the interests of your heirs. Your will should give you peace of mind. And, as your last wish on earth, it needs to be practicable. So take the time to write it in such a way that there is no doubt about your intentions.
Another problem that often surfaces with wills, is that people fail to adjust their wills - just as if nothing ever changes during their lives!
Your will should be adjusted every time an asset is added to your estate or is sold, or when you purchase a new property, or have a child, or take out a policy, for instance. An example: A husband and his second wife buy a house in a certain town and in his will the husband bequeaths the house to her: "I bequeath my house at 4 Singer Avenue, FineVille to my wife " Shortly after this they sell the house and move somewhere else. But the husband's will remains unchanged.
He then dies and his children, who never liked their stepmother, claim that the new house cannot go to the wife, because their father specifically bequeathed the old house in Singer Avenue to her, not the new one.
I recently had a case in which a will had been drawn up by the testator himself: "I bequeath my residence to my son. I bequeath the remainder of my estate to my daughter." Because the residence worth R500 000 was more valuable than the remainder of his estate, which was only worth R200 000, he further stipulated that his son must pay an amount equal to the difference in the value of their inheritances to the daughter. The testator's intention was that his two children's inheritances should be of equal value.
However, the outcome of the stipulation was that the son had to pay his sister an amount of R300 000, with the result that he inherited a net sum of only R200 000 and his sister received R500 000.
This was definitely not the intention. To reflect the true intention of the testator, the will should have had read: "I bequeath my residence to my son. I bequeath the remainder of my estate to my daughter. My son will be obliged to pay my daughter an amount equal to half the difference in the value of their inheritances."
A few words - an accurate description - can thus have a major effect on the consequences of your will.
Therefore, don't underestimate the importance of your will. Rather take a little time and seek expert advice so that your will is drawn up in such a way that no one can doubt your real intentions. Remember that you will no longer be there to explain yourself. You'll have to speak through your will.
Berrie Botha is the chief executive officer of Sanlam Trust.
This article was first published in Personal Finance magazine, 2nd Quarter 2003. See what's in our latest issue