Writing a will

[Unitek]

Anyone did a will care to share how and where to do it?

Thought of getting one done. No specific assest, just my savings, FD and UT. For husband and wife, do we need to make 2 separate wills?

 

Kum sia.

[Fishy]

Anyone did a will care to share how and where to do it?

Thought of getting one done. No specific assest, just my savings, FD and UT. For husband and wife, do we need to make 2 separate wills?

 

Kum sia.

 

 

yes u need a separate will for yourself and another for your wife.

you can start off with the words "last and final will of XXXXX and this will revokes all previous wills"

then you list out your assets and who is the beneficiary of the assets. put in as much details as possible in describing the assets

 

when you sign your will, it must be attested and witnessed by 2 witnesses present at the same time. both these witnesses cannot benefit from your will and they cannot be the spouse of the beneficiaries.

 

if you write on more than 2 pages, be sure to sign and attest on the additional pages.

[Puteh]

Good to do a will. Do a separate one for husband and wife. A good, qualified financial advisor should be able to help you on this. From my personal experience, I found that lawyers are not the best person to advise you when it comes to drafting a will. They are good though when it comes to checking on the legality, wordings and such.

 

Few pointers to note:

1. As mentioned earlier by a forum-er, make sure your 2 witnesses are also not your beneficiaries.

2. The role of your 2 witnesses is to ensure that when the will is drafted you are of sound mind and in control of what you are doing - they dont need to know the content in the will.

3. Also, it may be good to let some family members, or close friends know that a will had been done and where it is being kept.

 

[Babyt]

so actually we need not engage a laywer to do a will?

[Assaxefour]

It good to write a will. don't let the government put their hand on your whatever asset you have.

[Mike1234]

I tot we actually need to approach a lawyer and get it done???

 

Nt very sure though....

[Puteh]

It good to write a will. don't let the government put their hand on your whatever asset you have.

 

Estate duty has been removed for deaths on and after 15 Feb 2008.

 

If you dont have a will then the rules of distribution of your estate would be governed by intestate laws. If there are no surviving spouse, descendants, parents, brothers and sisters or their children or grandparents or uncles and aunts then the Government shall be entitled to the whole of the estate (assets).

 

So, your assets would go to the government only if they cant find anyone who's related to you. People do a will so that his assets can go to the people whom he loves when he passes away. He can change his will at any time as long as he is still alive and of sound mind.

[Puteh]

I tot we actually need to approach a lawyer and get it done???

 

Nt very sure though....

 

No you dont really need a lawyer, but it is a question of preference (and cost). Some people go to lawyer because they are afraid that their home-made will would be ineffective or invalid due to some poor choice of wording. Personally, I think if you lead a simple sort of life, you know who I mean - an average income earner, not too many properties, not too many wifes, no greedy relatives, etc, then your will should be a simple one to do.

 

Fees charged by lawyers can be anything between $250 to $500 (or even higher) for a simple to a moderately complex will. A word of caution though, not all lawyers are familiar with the drafting of an "air-tight" will.

[Actan72]

Anyone did a will care to share how and where to do it?

Thought of getting one done. No specific assest, just my savings, FD and UT. For husband and wife, do we need to make 2 separate wills?

 

Kum sia.

 

Hi, i am providing will writing service. If u are interested to know more, pls contact me @ 9118 1233. Thanks.

 

Auston.

HP : 9118 1233

 

[Unitek]

Thank you for your valuable inputs.

 

I always thought a will must be drafted or witness by a lawyer? For simple will writing, is there any standard format that we can follow?

 

Next, safe keeping of the will. I remember NTUC use to offer $300 for will writing and safe keep in a vault for 10 years. Not sure if they still does that?

 

Does anyone know if any insurance company also has such service?

[Fishy]

Thank you for your valuable inputs.

 

I always thought a will must be drafted or witness by a lawyer? For simple will writing, is there any standard format that we can follow?

 

Next, safe keeping of the will. I remember NTUC use to offer $300 for will writing and safe keep in a vault for 10 years. Not sure if they still does that?

 

Does anyone know if any insurance company also has such service?

 

 

a will do not need to be drafted or witnessed by a lawyer. it only needs to comply to formalities eg signed off by witnesses and u must have the testamentary capacity ie the capacity to dispose off your property, without influence by any illness or delusions or influenced by anyone.

 

not sure though about the will storage facility by any insurance company but u can get a personal representative, someone to administer your estate to keep a copy of the will so that he can make the correct distributions on executing the will.

 

if u do not have a will, then your property will be disposed off by the intestacy rules eg go to your spouse, kids or parents. if u want to give all your property to a specific person or a charity, get it documented by a will. if u have no relatives, then it will go to the bona vacantia or to the state in our context

Edited June 28, 2010 by Fishy

[Puteh]

Next, safe keeping of the will. I remember NTUC use to offer $300 for will writing and safe keep in a vault for 10 years. Not sure if they still does that?

 

Does anyone know if any insurance company also has such service?

 

Most people keep their own. I keep mine with the rest of my personal documents in a bag at home - easy to find and I can go through it any time when I want to.

 

Any reason why you prefer someone to hold it for you? If you have a safe deposit box with a bank (or something like that), you can also keep it there. The thing is to make sure your family knows you have a will and where it is kept. Pointless making a will and nobody in the family (or the whole world, heheh) knows of its existence - its as good as not having one in the first place. If you are afraid someone might read it before its time, you can always seal the envelope.

 

Hope this helps.

[Puteh]

Thank you for your valuable inputs.

 

For simple will writing, is there any standard format that we can follow?

 

Looks like you are thinking of drafting a simple will yourself. You can try googling under "Will Writing Format" for more info - may even be able to find sample wills too.

 

Alternatively, ask to look at someone's will and making the necessary changes to suit you. Remember when choosing your 2 witnesses that they are also not your beneficiaries (refer to my earlier post).

 

Have fun!

[Hub_n_mona]

hi, don't you need to lodge it at some official depository? or is that voluntary?

[Puteh]

hi, don't you need to lodge it at some official depository? or is that voluntary?

 

Are you talking about a Will Registry?

 

The Public Trustee maintains a Will Registry where you can deposit information about your Will, but they do not keep the physical Will for you. You are supposed to keep it yourself, or by your representatives.

 

The Will Registry would only contain information like, the name of the person who made the will (called testator), the date the Will was done, who the custodian is, who helped draft the Will, etc. Only those information enough for next-of-kins (or beneficiaries) or lawyers acting for the estate to find out if the deceased had left behind a Will to govern the distribution of his assets (estate).

 

You can get more information on this from the Insolvency & Public Trustees Office, URA Centre, Maxwell Road.

 

Hope this help answers your question.

 

 

[Unitek]

Hi Puteh,

 

Thanks, a great help!

Talked to a lawyer and was quoted $500 for a will. Any amendment, depending on degree of changes, will cost me further.

I look at the sample will and its like wtf! ask me to list each and every single stuff i have for my beneficiary??? (Eg. Rolex...model, etc)

 

I think i'll do as you proposed, self made will with 2 witness who are non-beneficiaries.

 

Thanks again!

 

[Puteh]

Hi Puteh,

 

Thanks, a great help!

Talked to a lawyer and was quoted $500 for a will. Any amendment, depending on degree of changes, will cost me further.

I look at the sample will and its like wtf! ask me to list each and every single stuff i have for my beneficiary??? (Eg. Rolex...model, etc)

 

I think i'll do as you proposed, self made will with 2 witness who are non-beneficiaries.

 

Thanks again!

 

Hi Unitek,

 

I am only saying that you dont need a lawyer to draft a Will, and that it is not a difficult thing to do. If you have decided to do a self-made Will by all means go ahead - the benefit of getting one done is better than none at all ! Besides, there are lots of sample on the internet to guide you too! Go for it!

 

$500! That's high - assuming yours is a simple Will of cos!

 

Maybe that's why they wanted you to list every single stuff, to show that a lot of work and time had been expended in drafting the Will. haha! Bet they will even throw in 2 of their associate lawyers to be the witnesses for good measure too. haha

 

Then again, it maybe good to do a one-time exercise to itemise your more high-valued assets too. This is so that you do not miss anything out. But that is if you are going to distribute them individually to your loved ones - otherwise you can use terms like immovable and immovable properties should suffice to cover all your assets.

 

Happy drafting!

[TingCheeKheong]

Thank you for your valuable inputs.

 

I always thought a will must be drafted or witness by a lawyer? For simple will writing, is there any standard format that we can follow?

 

Next, safe keeping of the will. I remember NTUC use to offer $300 for will writing and safe keep in a vault for 10 years. Not sure if they still does that?

 

Does anyone know if any insurance company also has such service?

 

Hi, I know this is quite sometime ago and I only get to see this when I google online for will writing. My company does provide Safe Keeping of Wills - we have lifetime, 10 years and 5 years plans. For Lifetime, it is a one-time fee of $600 with 2 FREE exchange of Wills during lifetime. Meaning you can come back with a new will and exchange for your old one, for up to 2 times before you need to pay again.

 

Thanks!