Mr PP and I are sitting on the sofa as I type, currently discussing our wills. Well we dont have one yet but this will be rectified this week.

Mr PP said his family have not bothered with him at all, they rarely did when we were in the UK and never bother with him now, even after the accident.

Now we have made friends here that have sort of become our family, they have looked after us (some from BE, you know who you are), work colleagues that have taken care of us when Mr PP was in hospital. People I know we can count on if you know what I mean.

Mr PP said he doesnt want to include his family in his will whatsoever and I must say that my family have their own lives/money and I already have an idea of who to leave 'my share' to should the worst happen and its not my family.

Is this bad? do family have autmatic rights to your assets when you die? I believe you should leave it to whoever you want personally.

Mr PP reckons his family wont come a knocking in the event of his death but my Dad reckons that even the nicest of families can come out of the woodwork when money is involved and to secure your stuff by making a water tight will specifying your wishes.

Is it hard to make a will in Australia? I have heard you can do it online and have to get someone to witness it but I would need to check it out.

What do you reckon? Families have automatic rights or is it a personal thing? Personally the things I wanted when Mum died had no cash value, but I didnt care as I wanted my Mum back and not money and I feel sick at the thought of people fighting over a dead persons cash.

Hi PP

As far as I know you don't have to make provision for family in your will if they're not financially dependant on you.

You're in Perth aren't you? Have a look here http://www.publictrustee.wa.gov.au/W...0728-4235-5275 costs $80 per couple for a simple will (provided you use the Public Trustee as your exec! otherwise nearer $500 for private executor)

cheers
shears

Well we dont have children so it makes it easier I guess.

Thanks for the link - going to check that out.

Australia has strict succession laws in place. Contrary to popular belief you cannot just challenge a will if you related to the deceased, you need to prove that you have been excluded from a will unfairly and against natural succession law basically.

In essence, the law (in Australia) states your spouse gets everything, if no spouse then the children, if no children then your parents, if no parents then the siblings and onward from there.

We were concerned when my wife's mother passed away recently as to claims coming out from the woodwork as some of the extended family is, shall we say financially motivated, and our solicitor laughed and commented that this is Australia - it doesn't work that way

Just get a will made. A simple couples will kit is available from Australia Post Offices and is a very cheap and legal way to do it. For added peace of mind get it witnessed by a Justice of the Peace and one other witness who you would take along with you. Its all we did as we have no kids or really complicated things that a solicitor was needed for, but of course individual circumstances vary. The Public Trustee is an excellent way forward as well as kindly posted above.

Also - one other thing you should consider as a couple at the same time is getting a Enduring Power of Attorney drawn up that will enable either one of you to make decisions for the other in the event of incapacity. Very worthwhile doing.

Do you mean that is what happens if somebody dies without a will? But a will would over ride that?

E.g. if I die of old age after my spouse and there are no parents or children I could leave my estate to a local charity and not have a sibling or niece overturn my wishes?

Yes, I was writing about the arrangement if you die without a will.

But if you have a will then it may be challenged if it is grossly unfair, beneficiaries that would have otherwise gained share of the estate have financial needs and a variety of other reasons. Whether or not they are successful would be another matter of course.

My comment was really that providing your will follows the succession principals it cannot be challenged at all by any random family member who feels they should get something. It seems to be a bit of an urban myth that just anyone can challenge a will or make a claim on an estate and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that isn't the case.

OK, just want to know for the distant future. We don't have any children, so assuming I die of old age my feelings at the moment are that I would rather my "fortune" went to my two autistic nephews on my husband's side who I want to know will be cared for when we are all gone, than to my blood related, obnoxious, spoilt, brat of a niece who would not recognise a days work if it punched her in the nose.

In our wills we leave everything to charity. We have no children or relatives who are close. The only problem was nominating an executor - we just asked the solicitor to do it and that's fairly common.