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But again, this is not morbid. It's a very educational topic. Haha...
For example, did you know that you can write a Last Will even without the help of a lawyer? This type of will is called a holographic will. You can freely write it using your own language or writing style, and the only requirements are (1) it should be handwritten, (2) dated, and (3) signed. That's it. You don't even have to have a witness to sign it. It remains private and you can change it anytime you want.
But why write a Last Will?
A last will expresses one's wishes after he/she goes. It guides loved ones on how to partition what one left because when there is no guide on how to divide it, conflicts usually arise.
With a last will, one could explain why he/she chose to distribute in such a way (although there is a required minimum distribution to compulsory heirs mandated by law. The only ones who could distribute to anyone, as long as the recipient/s is/are not prohibited by law, are those without parents and kids).
By writing a last will, you could also opt to give to people outside your family, for example, your favorite charitable institutions.
What happens if you don't have a Last Will?
In the absence of any will, heirs come into succession by operation of law (family members nearest in degree). And if there are no qualified heirs or relatives within the 5th degree, the state will inherit the whole estate.
See, I told you this is very educational. Haha.... I learned all about these by reading "Thy Will Done" by Atty. Angelo Cabrera which talks about estate planning in the Philippine setting.
The book also cites some true-to-life horror stories of people distributing their estate prematurely to avoid estate taxes. One story was about these parents who transferred the house they were living in to their only son (he was married with kids). Their son passed away unexpectedly and without a will, the ownership of the house automatically went to their daughter-in-law and the grandchildren. The daughter-in-law remarried and she sold the house and so the parents got evicted from their own home. :( How heartbreaking...
The book also contains a sample holographic will which I think is beautifully written. It was written by a dad and in gist, the dad told his kids that his wish was for everything to go to their mom since the kids were doing well financially already. But the dad said that if the kids weren't ok with giving everything to the mom, he'll perfectly understand too so he gave some equitable distribution of his properties (within the prescribed distribution by law) just in case.
In addition to a last will, one could also do a separate letter of instructions - if one wants to keep some instructions in private since the last will will be publicly shared with people outside of the family. What could be in the letter of instructions?
- the list of people (and their contact details) you want notified when you go
- funeral details like how many days you want your wake to be, where you want buried, etc.
- how to dispose of your personal items
- name of person you want to be the executor of your estate (in the absence of a name, the court appoints one and since this person is a stranger, he/she may not be able to perform everything exactly how you want it to be)
Wow, the content of the letter of instructions requires some brainstorming, planning and project planning. Haha...
Lastly, did you know there's such a thing called a Living Will? What's a Living Will? It's a will that specifies your decision relating to medical treatment in the event that you become incapable of communicating e.g. if you become comatose. This will help your family decide, for example, whether or not to take you off life support.
Incidentally, one lunch time weeks ago (before I even read this book), my colleagues and I had a hypothetical discussion about this topic - what if you're in a situation wherein you need life support. Do you want your family to put you on life support?
One excitedly answered - "No, because when I wake up and see the hospital bill, for sure, I'll have cardiac arrest!" Wahaha... And we all agreed. Haha....
