Burns Nowlan Solicitors Newbridge

Wills/Probate

We always recommend that a will should be made by clients irrespective of their circumstances and age. Personal family and financial circumstances may change over a number of years and therefore the making of a will is always advised in case something should happen.

By their very nature wills will be varied and also must take into account the particular circumstances of an individual or couple. Wills can be tailor made and drafted to take into account whether you are single married separated divorced or whether or not you have children.

It is essential that the terms of a will are well thought out in advance of giving instruction to a Solicitor. Whereas we will guide and advise you and suggest ways in which your wishes can be effected it is still necessary for a client to be in a position to give specific instructions as to what he/she might wish to occur in the event of a death taking place.

We also recommend to clients that the provisions of a will be reviewed every four to five years. This allows us advise clients in relation to any changes that might have occurred in legislation or case law relating to wills or changes in the tax implications of the provisions of a will. In addition personal and family circumstances may have changed – properties may have been bought or sold; children may have reached eighteen years of age or over; the value of a bequest may have increased or decreased; clients may have married or indeed separated or divorced.

Quite a considerable amount of litigation has arisen in recent years in relation to applications being made to Court to have the provisions of a will altered or indeed in certain cases to have the entire will overturned. In certain cases we may recommend to a client that futher steps be taken in addition to the making of a will to ensure that the wishes of a client will be given effect on their death without the possibility of that wish or bequest being queried or objected to.

Wills also have a particular format which must be adopted as otherwise the will may be deemed invalid and ineffective. Executors must be appointed and the will has to be properly witnessed. We strongly advise against the adoption of pre- printed wills or those down loaded from the internet.

Before calling to our office we will ask a client to have considered the following issues:-

The names and addresses of the Executors – the people who will be charged with taking out Probate of the will and ensuring the wishes of the deceased are honoured and followed.
The Guardians – the people who will have to physically look after the child/children until he/she/they become 18 years of age. This is the most important feature of a will where there are children involved.
The bequests – the provisions of the will which deal with how the estate of the deceased will be divided. If there is more than one child particular attention now has to be paid as to how the estate is distributed in order to avoid an application being made under Section 117 of the Succession Act.
Prepare a Schedule/Inventory of your property/ Bank Accounts/ Insurance Policies and other relevant assets.

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