The last thing you want your grieving loved ones to have to go through after you die is the delay and expense of a legal fight over your estate. 

Firstly, make sure that you have a valid will.  If you die without a will (i.e. “intestate”), your estate will be handled by an executor not chosen by you, and your assets will be distributed according to set “rules of intestate succession” - which may not tie in at all with your wishes.

Ensure that all necessary formalities are complied with in regard to signature, witnesses etc.  The same applies to any later changes to your will - the danger of not doing so was illustrated in a case recently before the High Court, where a suicide note was claimed to have amended the deceased’s will in several significant bequests.

The deceased may or may not have intended to change his will.  But because his suicide note did not comply with the required formalities, it could only be accepted as valid if his intention to change the will could be proved.  In this case it couldn’t, and the Court left the original will unchanged.  The difficulty is that the onus to prove the validity of an unformalised document is “a strict onus which is not easily discharged” – it must be shown “unequivocally that it was the genuine and final expression of the deceased’s intention for the disposal of his estate”.  

If you don’t already have a properly drawn will – complying with all formalities - get it done now!  Then review it at regular intervals to ensure that it still correctly reflects your last wishes.

P.S. You also need to have your will checked for tax efficiency – more on that next month.