This article is from page 52 of the 2009-09-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 52 JPG
MAKING a will won’t kill you, but not making it will cause a lot of unec- essary trouble and possible financial loss for your successors.
And yet, it is estimated that half of all adults have not made a will and only 20 per cent of business owners have decided who will inherit their businesses when they die.
This leads to more family disputes over inheritance and succession with the sale and division of estates result- ing in a significant share of the pro-
ceeds being consumed by legal costs.
You don’t have to make a will but it makes good sense to leave your af- fairs in good order for those who sur- vive you. It is a sad, but inevitable fact of life that many people die under the age of 30 – yet a very small number of them may even have thought about making a will.
If you make a will, you decide who gets what after your death. You can also decide who doesn’t benefit as you can minimise the impact of capital ac- quisitions tax on your beneficiaries.
If you don’t make a will, your next
of kin will inherit your estate. If you are not married, have outlived your parents and have no children, the Government could be the ultimate ANON lol a
In many cases, the people who ben- efit from your life’s work may be peo- ple you may not have wished to bene- fit from your death. If you don’t make a will, it’s possible the wrong people may be your legal successors.
You get to choose, but only if you take the right action at the right time. The right action is to seek advice from a solicitor and the right time 1s now.