Six reasons you should have a will / New no-nonsense powers of attorney

May Lifelaw Newletter:

Lifelaw

When life decisions are everything.

At different points in your life, you will need clear, sound advice from legal experts who help look after your best interests. One of the challenges is knowing when you need a lawyer’s help. That’s where lifelaw comes in.

lifelaw draws upon all areas of legal expertise that exist within Lane Neave. We’ll work with you and alongside you to formulate the solution you require.

Time to think about your future. Time to think about lifelaw.

Visit the Lifelaw page

Six reasons why you should have a will

Did you know that around half of all Kiwi’s don’t have a valid Will?  It’s fair to say that thinking about dying can be uncomfortable but preparing a Will is something simple you can do to make sure your affairs are managed smoothly if the unexpected happens.

Your Will is the basis for how your estate is managed, so there are many reasons that make having a current Will important.

We put our legal brains together and ranked the top six reasons you should have a valid Will.

1. Make sure the assets you worked hard to acquire go to the people you want
2. Make sure your assets are given to your beneficiaries at a time when they are in the best position to get them (you probably don’t want your teenage daughter getting her hands on your Harley until she can truly appreciate it)
3. Choose a Guardian for your children (or Fluffy if you’re an animal lover)
4. Buried or cremated? You don’t want to get that one wrong
5. Speed… a valid Will leads to faster estate administration and therefore less stress
6. And finally, a valid Will generally incurs less legal fees – you’ll pay us less and leave more in the pot for your loved ones

Our advice is simple.  Take the time to get a Will drafted that protects your loved ones and makes it easy for your executor to administer your estate.

New no-nonsense powers of attorney

A correctly drafted Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) allows someone to make decisions about your property, health and well being when you can’t do it yourself.

Clearly, it’s important to appoint the right person.  They should be someone you trust and who understands your wishes. You should also consider whether they are capable to manage all the financial and legal stuff.

The good news is changes have been introduced recently to make the EPA process less overwhelming and easier to understand.

Some key improvements include:

• The new EPA forms are drafted in plain English
• Explanations are standardised to make them easier to understand and to remove the legal jargon
• If two people plan to be each other’s attorney they can now use the same witness
• You can revoke your previous EPA in your new EPA – no need to complete a separate document

At Lane Neave, we think having a current EPA is as important as your Will. It provides you with the peace of mind that you have your life in order should the unexpected happen.   Let’s face it, you want your family to know what to do if you’re unable to make the decisions for yourself.

Give us a shout if you have any questions about the changes or would like to set up an EPA.

Lifelaw team

If you have any queries in respect of the above, or any other lifelaw issues, please contact a member of our team:

Lifelaw team: Stephen Jeffery, Monica Ryan, Gerard Thwaites, Chris Anderson, Giana Fyfe, Sarah Bennett

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