cappuccino

Is a UK Will honoured in NZ or should I cancel my existing Will here and write a new one when I arrive?

dreamfish

Your UK Will will apply to any capital or chattels you hold solely in the UK (such as a house or a current account). So will need to be updated if this will be the case. Otherwise, unless you have had it registered separately at that place in London that all solicitors can access (cant recall the correct name) then it will just become obsolete the moment you remove your possessions from the UK.

You will need to have a new Will drawn up in NZ for your NZ capital and chattels.

As I understand it....

jennifer45

Is a will written yourself, once resident in NZ, valid with 2 witnesses?

Maz

Our solicitor is drawing up a new will for us, for free! This is after we used her for our house closing, which is tomorrow. She said if you die intestate in NZ it's a right legal mess...

Wiz'n'Ton

Funnily enough, I spoke to our solicitor about this as we need to sort an NZ will. They said that if a solicitor is doing a house/ section purchase, then ask for a will at the same time and they'll usually chuck it in for free.

Otherwise it's around $140 for a straightforward one covering husband/ wife or similar.

So, when buying make sure you ask - don't ask, don't get!

beaudixon

Our solicitor told us the same, done for free cos house purchase done by them.
They have just taken our UK wills and going to alter the format to NZ standard. THe content will be the same at the UK version which is held by our solicitor there.

Kiwiprincess

Go through Public Trust. They offer a free service providing you make them your Executor. Don't need to stick with them, but they can provide some quite valuable advice.

Disclaimer: I used to work for them many moons ago and the people I worked with would probably throttle me for suggesting i tell people to go there for free advice.

In case anyone was wondering, their Wills are in plain english and they won international awards years ago for having Wills which can actually be understood

uk+kiwi

I'm not sure that's a good idea though. My understanding is that an executor should be someone you would trust with your life (well actually your asset distribution after you die!), not someone unknown or with a vested interest.

But by the sounds of it they sound like a good company to consider using and/or obtaining advice.

Kiwiprincess

That's a good point - it really depends on who you are comfortable with. It is perfectly possible to ask for an advisory trustee however.

Public Trust in particular is the oldest trustee company in NZ and it was set up, originally because of the high number of migrants who didn’t either the legal skills or someone they knew who they could do it. Not to mention the fact that they, like the other biggie trustees wind things up so quickly that they know what to do any can do it quickly. Also they can get a certificate of administration before probate. Or something like that. I can’t recall anymore. So, even if ya don't want them (or any company) to eventually be Executor and Trustee there is no harm in getting their knowledge. Hehe perhaps i am just a bit sneaky