Or perhaps the
better question is, do you have a will that articulates exactly how you want
your estate to be distributed should you pass away?
An article
published by news.com.au on 18 July 2016 describes the story of a mother who
lost her son whilst he was at work. During the family’s grieving period, it was
found that the son did not have a will and that the immediate family had no
entitlement to the deceased’s workers’ compensation.
However, there
was someone else who did have a claim.
The ACT
Magistrates Court awarded the workers compensation in the amount of $200,000 to
a lady who proved to the Court that she was a dependent of the deceased.
Whilst the
deceased’s family had never heard of the existence of the lady, evidence
compelled the Court that she was financially dependent on the deceased.
Evidence included that the pair had plans to spend their lives together, they
were domestic partners and had been in a relationship for eight months.
Contrary evidence was given by the deceased’s landlord and a friend of the
deceased to the effect that neither had met or seen the lady before. However,
the compensation was solely awarded to the lady.
The family of
the deceased will never have any certainty as to how the deceased would have
wanted his estate to be distributed. It had probably never crossed any of their
minds that they needed to prepare for something so tragic.
Whether you are
at the beginning of your working life or in the process of winding down, giving
a small amount of time to formalising your intentions is a small price to pay
for giving your family certainty as to what your final intentions may be.
In our
experience at G&B Lawyers, wills are generally not hard to prepare and can
take as little as a few hours when you have clear intentions in your mind.
Should you wish
to either create or update your will, contact Nathan Buckley, Partner at
G&B Lawyers on 0411 067 367 or by email at nbuckley@gandblawyers.com.au.
Reference:
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