Life’s a whirlwind. Between work, family, and countless other commitments, it’s easy to let important tasks slip through the cracks. One crucial aspect often overlooked is planning for your own future through the creation of a will. While it may not be the most pleasant topic to contemplate, making a will is essential for safeguarding your assets, protecting your loved ones, and ensuring your wishes are carried out according to your desires.
1. Protecting Your Assets
You invest significant time and resources into your education and career. From student loans to practice ownership, you accumulate assets that hold value both financially and personally. Without a will, these assets may not be distributed according to your wishes, potentially leading to disputes among family members or unintended beneficiaries.
2. Providing for Loved Ones
A will allows you to designate beneficiaries who will inherit your assets, including family members, friends, or charitable organisations. For those with spouses, children, or dependents, a will provides peace of mind knowing that their loved ones will be taken care of financially in the event of their passing.
3. Avoiding Dying “Intestate”
If you don’t express your wishes in a will and you die ‘intestate’, then the terms of the 1965 Succession Act will come into play. The rules of intestacy will determine how your estate will be distributed, which could mean your assets might not be divided in the way you’d have liked. By making a will, you retain control over the distribution of your assets and avoid the uncertainties of intestacy.
4. Providing for a Life Partner
It’s especially crucial to have a will if you have a long-term partner but are not married. If you die intestate, this could cause huge financial difficulty for your surviving partner, who will have no automatic right to a share of your estate. If you didn’t provide for your partner in a will and they were financially dependent on you, they might have to apply to the courts to seek provision from your estate.
5. Minimizing Family Conflicts
The absence of a clear will can lead to disputes and conflicts among family members, especially if there are disagreements about asset distribution or guardianship of dependents. Crafting a comprehensive will with legal assistance can help mitigate potential conflicts and ensure a smooth transition of assets. Irish families can be secretive about their wills and many disputes over an inheritance could be avoided if parents just discussed the content of their wills with their families while they are alive.
6. Facilitating Estate Administration
A well-drafted will simplifies the probate process and expedites the administration of our estate. Executors named in the will are tasked with carrying out your final wishes, including settling debts, distributing assets, and fulfilling any specific instructions outlined in the document.
7. Updating for Life Changes
Life is dynamic, and your circumstances may change over time. It’s important to review and update your will periodically to reflect major life events such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, or acquisition of new assets. By keeping your will current, you ensure that it accurately reflects your intentions.
8. Consider Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax planning is not something only the wealthy need to consider when making a will. If you leave your home and, say, your savings to someone other than your spouse or civil partner, that beneficiary could be liable to capital acquisitions tax (CAT) of 33pc on the value of these assets. This means they may have to sell the family home or take out a loan to pay the tax.
The CAT threshold for a child is just €335,000. If, for example, you left a child the family home and it is worth €500,000 – the average price of a three-bed semi in Dublin – they would be liable to pay €54,450 in inheritance tax. Rather than leaving everything to your children, you could include your grandchildren and sons-in-law or daughters-in-law to use up all of their tax-free thresholds.
9. Enduring Power of Attorney
While this will not be included within your will it’s something everyone should consider and is best put in place long before any illness or disability necessitates one. An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone you trust to make financial and/or personal decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make decisions for yourself due to illness, injury, or incapacity. You can now start the process of getting one in place via the https://decisionsupportservice.ie/ website.
In conclusion, making a will is a critical component of financial planning for everyone. It provides peace of mind, protects our assets, and ensures that our loved ones are cared for according to our wishes. While the process of creating a will may seem daunting, seeking guidance from a good solicitor can simplify the process and ensure that our final wishes are legally documented. Why not take the first step today and book an appointment with a trusted solicitor.
