Leave them smiling

An incredible number of people put off making a will and many never get round to making one at all. It is understandable that many people don't want to put their minds to their own mortality and what will happen on their death, so this prompted me to look at the lighter side of making a will.

Funeral wishes often tell you a lot about a person and their view on life. Take the testator who, when asked whether he had any funeral wishes, responded: "Oh I don't care, they can chuck me in a skip!" Or the person who wanted to be cremated and put into a firework, or another who also wanted to be cremated, but wished to form part of a diamond necklace and hung round their partner's neck.

One of my favourites was the husband who said that he wanted to be cremated with his wife's credit cards.

What other legacies of a humorous or unusual nature have I come across over the years, I hear you ask? Well, not all of them are mine and some may be urban legends, but I won't let that get in the way of a good story.

A husband who died had included
a clause in his will, which read:
"To my wife, I leave her lover, and the knowledge that I wasn't the fool she thought I was."

One wealthy gentleman left a very large legacy to his wayward grandson on the condition that he completed a law degree at Oxford. It took the grandson about 10 years to satisfy the condition and receive his legacy.

Another man left dividends in 780 shares in a rubber boot company "for
the recreation of the people" living in
a Finnish village nursing home.
The company, Nokia, moved into mobile phone manufacturing in the 1980s (some 60 or so years after the testator made his money) and the residents of the nursing home have been made millionaires.

Something for the pets

Then there are the testators whose main concern are their pets. This can understandably be a very emotive issue for many, but one of the more unusual legacies I have heard concerned what was to happen to a testator's pet rats. The majority of the estate was to be used for the protection and care of
the rats.

Another favourite is the lady who wanted to leave her entire estate to herself. Apparently it took a little bit of explanation to remind the testatrix that she wouldn't be here to receive it.
And yes, apparently she did have capacity to make a will; it was just a sign that a translator was needed to make sure nothing else was lost in translation.

It's not all fun and games

But all peculiarities aside, failure to make a will can only result in one outcome. Your estate will pass under the intestacy rules which are laid down in statute, rather than in accordance with your wishes. The last thing most people want is a dispute over their estate and
a professionally drafted will can often help to make sure the estate passes the way a testator wants it to.

Disputes over estates are very much on the increase and I see this more and more in practise. This is, in my view, down to a number of factors. First, people live longer and therefore often there are capacity issues at the time of making a will. Second, as people live longer they are more likely to have second and third marriages with children from different relationships. Third, house prices are such that there is more money to fight over. And fourth, so many people think they can make a will themselves at home and they often mistakes, which leads to an invalid will, resulting in disputes later.

So my advice is, don't put off making a will because you think it is a morbid subject. It is a document that deals with all of your assets and all of your beneficiaries, loved ones, and favourite causes. It is worth getting your estate in order. And if you do find it a depressing subject, why not throw in an amusing anecdote of your own to lighten the mood?

Helen Freely is a partner at Druces