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Writing your
will is the first essential step towards providing for and protecting
your loved ones because the will warrants that they benefit from your
hard-earned assets.
To guarantee that all your wishes are carried out, there is a need to
go a step beyond writing your will. Three elements -- confidentiality,
safe custody and ease of retrieval -- are vital for your will to be executed
properly.
Confidentiality is apparent in every aspect of our existence, whether
it be business transactions, company affairs or our private lives. The
same goes with wills, whereby confidentiality regarding its contents often
requires special importance so that untoward or unwanted events are avoided.
Contents of a will need only be known by the testator who makes the will,
and the professional will-writer drafting it. Witnesses to the will attest
only to the fact that the will was written by the testator of his or her
free will. They also attest to the fact that the testator was of sound
mind while writing the will and that he or she did so by choice and not
by force. Witnesses do not attest to the contents of a will.
Similarly, executors and guardians need not know the will's contents.
However, these parties should first be consulted, and their consent given
to act as such when the time comes. Their roles and responsibilities should
be explained to them so they understand fully the magnitude of their duties.
The will must also be kept safely. This is easier said than done because
whilst safety may ensure confidentiality, "too safe" a place
may result in the inability to locate the will when it is needed.
The safe-keeping of a will protects it from being tampered with, which
can lead to litigation between relatives and siblings regarding its validity.
Altered or even allegedly altered wills can be deemed invalid. Safe-keeping
also ensures that the will is kept intact, and not destroyed by "acts
of God" like fires and floods. Even minute or partial destruction
-- like holes made by cockroaches and silverfish in pertinent parts of
a will -- may cause it to be nullified. Disintegration over time may also
cause a will's invalidity. Thus, safety and protection is important.
But, where exactly is a "safe place"? Safe deposit boxes may
seem appropriate, especially for jewellery, contracts and love letters,
but these are frozen upon a person's death, as are jointly-held safe deposit
boxes. This will prevent family members from accessing a will kept there.
They will thus have to get a Letter of Administration to unlock the safety
deposit boxes. Additionally, such boxes in joint-names increase risks
of third parties being privy to the will's contents and of tampering.
Keeping a will at home seems like a suitable place. But wills kept at
home are unprotected from natural disasters, third parties and tampering.
Equally unprotected, or perhaps even more so, are wills which are replicated
and kept in various places as these same problems persist -- but in wider
magnitudes!
Sometimes, testators keep the will's hiding place a secret. This may result
in them forgetting where it is over the years, or in their taking the
secret with them to the grave. In such instances, the will is as good
as non-existent.
Thus all the safe-keeping and confidentiality measures in the world would
be futile if a will cannot be located, retrieved and submitted to the
court for a Grant of Probate when it is finally needed.
Will safe-keeping is available through professional will writers and professional
trustee organisations. As such you can conveniently and simultaneously
overcome the complications of retrieval, confidentiality and protection.
Saw Leong
Aun is the chief executive officer of Rockwills Corporation Sdn Bhd, the
franchise holder for Trust Wills professional will-writing service. Saw,
who has 15 years of experience in the financial field, has written a book
entitled All You Need to Know About Wills.
1998. All rights reserved. The Edge
Communications Sdn Bhd
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