Making a will provides security and protects loved ones

FOR many people making a will is something they plan to do each year but before they get around to it another year has slipped by. It is important for you to make a will because if you don’t, and die without a will, the law on intestacy decides what happens to your property.

The current health crisis has thrown everything into sharp relief and people are suddenly acutely aware of the fragility of life. Covid-19 has taken so many people within our country and within communities across Co Wexford.

Protecting loved ones financially is something everyone starts thinking about at some point in their lives. By the simple act of making a will you can do this and once it is done no more work is required.

A will can ensure that proper arrangements are made for your dependants and that your property is distributed in the way you wish after you die, subject to certain rights of spouses/civil partners and children.

It is also advisable to complete and keep updated a list of your assets.

If you have made a will, you are called a testator (male) or testatrix (female). A person who dies having made a valid will is said to have died ‘testate’. If you die testate, then all your possessions will be distributed in the way you set out in your will.

It is the job of the executor or executors you named in your will to make sure this happens. There are legal limits as to how much of your property goes to which person, as set out in law in the Succession Act, 1965.

An executor can be a beneficiary under the will. In other words, the executor can also inherit under the will.

After you die, somebody has to deal with your estate, by gathering together all your money and possessions, paying any debts you owe and then distributing what is left to the people who are entitled to it.

If you leave a will before you die, one or more of the executors you named in your will usually has to get legal permission from the Probate Office or the District Probate Registry for the area in which you lived at the time of death to do this. Permission comes in the form of a document called a Grant of Representation.

If you did not name any executors in your will or if the executors are unable or unwilling to apply for a Grant of Representation, documents called Letters of Administration (With Will) are issued. When your estate is distributed, the legal rights of your spouse/ civil partner and children, if any, will be fulfilled first after any debts are paid before any other gifts are considered.

What happens if you die without a will or your will is invalid

A person who dies without a will is said to have died `intestate’. If you die intestate, this means your estate, or everything that you own, is distributed in accordance with the law by an administrator. To do this, the administrator needs permission in the form of a Grant of Representation.

When a person dies without a will or when their will is invalid, this Grant is issued as Letters of Administration by the Probate Office or the District Probate Registry for the area in which the person lived at the time of death.