To will or not to will...

aniascor

Recently someone laughed at me when I mentioned that I wanted to make out a will. He said that because my boyfriend and I had joint ownership of our property this was unnecessary because the property will automatically revert to the other person if something happens to one of us.

In his opinion, this notion of needing a will when you buy a house is outdated and no-one bothers with them anymore.

I'm not looking for legal advice here - just opinions. Personally I think a will saves everyone a lot of hassle, and I'm still going to get one done up. Who here has bothered to get a will done up, and who here thinks it's a waste of time?

EducatedGuess

In my opinion anyone who does not make a will, especially when joint property is involved is stupid. The fact that the share in the property automatically reverts to the other person is not necessarily true, but does happen [the legal interest in the property]. Under the Succession Act 1963, the rules of succession are broad, but may not be exactly what you wish. The fact that your not married either doesn't help, becuase your partner is not deemed to be next to kin under the rules of succession.

From working on cases with the families fighting over disputed property and possessions of the deceased, I dont think that spending €100 on a will is too much to ask, at least then your satisfied about who gets what. Some credit unions provide a free will service and most solicitor firms will provide them free to existing clients. When a person dies intestate probate is long and drawn out and can cause a lot of undue stress to the surviving relatives. My advice to any person over the age of 18 would be make a will.

Lplated

Agree wholly with EducatedGuess. Anyone owning any property who wishes to ensure the ultimate destination of that property should they die, should make a will.
It doesn't have to cost a lot, but it can save a lot of money and hassle.
I also work in law and it's not uncommon to see estates valued at maybe 200 to 300 thousand being fought over and incurring maybe 30 or 40 thousand in legal costs.

aniascor

Glad to see I am not the only one who thinks a will is important. The reason I brought the topic up for discussion is because the guy laughing at me is a solicitor, and he was making his claims in a very condescending "what would you know about it" manner.
Maybe he was just being lazy and wanted to avoid being asked to help me draw one up!!

dermot_sheehan

aniascor wrote:

Glad to see I am not the only one who thinks a will is important. The reason I brought the topic up for discussion is because the guy laughing at me is a solicitor, and he was making his claims in a very condescending "what would you know about it" manner.
Maybe he was just being lazy and wanted to avoid being asked to help me draw one up!!

If the property was held under a "joint-tenancy", the property would become the survivor's without any probate, so a will would be superfluous. If however it was a "tennancy-in-common", the house is held in two shares, if one party dies the share has to go through probate. Probate is easier if there's a will, if the rules of intestacy come into play (if there's no will), it would go to your nearest relation.

Sophistikid

aniascor wrote:

Recently someone laughed at me when I mentioned that I wanted to make out a will. He said that because my boyfriend and I had joint ownership of our property this was unnecessary because the property will automatically revert to the other person if something happens to one of us.

In his opinion, this notion of needing a will when you buy a house is outdated and no-one bothers with them anymore.

I'm not looking for legal advice here - just opinions. Personally I think a will saves everyone a lot of hassle, and I'm still going to get one done up. Who here has bothered to get a will done up, and who here thinks it's a waste of time?

Trust me, make a will asap. Intestate (dying without a will being made is madness.) You dont even need a solicitor, you can buy one in easons, that simple. But please take my advice, make one.