This document outlines five key considerations for drafting a will, emphasizing the importance of clarity to prevent family disputes and legal challenges. It highlights the necessity of listing assets, choosing the right executor, defining beneficiaries, appointing guardians for minor children, and specifying any particular gifts or requests. Additionally, it advises selecting a qualified lawyer to ensure that all wishes are documented and legally protected.

1. 5 THINGS TO
CONSIDER BEFORE
DRAFTING YOUR
WILL
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2. Wills are very important when looking at estate planning.
Without them, you’ve got no way to ensure that your wishes
after you are gone can be carried out how you want them.
The thing that most people don’t realize is that without asking
the right questions and having the right information for a
discussion with your lawyer you won’t get the will you want.

3. Nothing is worse for a family than
when a will gets contested because it’s
not made clear from the get go. There
are many horror stories of litigation
happening and tearing families apart.
Not to mention the cost of contesting a
will can be astronomical and will
sometimes outweigh the cost of what
the clients are contesting.
Here’s how you can avoid having that
happen to your family. We’ve put
together a quick list and tips of what
you need to consider before you hire a
lawyer to draft a will for you.

4. Assets
An asset is anything that you own
that has value.

5. When you’re looking at your assets, it’s a very good idea
you to make a list of what assets you have.
That list should include money in bank accounts, if there
are multiple bank accounts, list each bank account and
the current balance as of the day of the list.
It could include; any cars, vehicles, houses, valuable
works of art, pictures, any kind of jewelry, other real
estate, wine collections, basically anything of value.

6. You have to know what you have and more importantly
the list is going to help whoever it is that takes care of
your matters, under your will – the executor. That
person needs to know where the assets are.
There have been many situations where people didn’t
make a list of all the bank accounts and assets they had
and it can quickly became a nightmare trying to track
down money and what’s valuable and what’s not.

7. There are times even where money has been lost, it
never gets claimed, it sits in a bank account for years
and years and then the bank either reclaims it or goes
into some kind of es-cheater government situation. It
just gets lost in the shuffle, so making a list of everything
you have is very important and it’s something you do
today, not later on down the road, but today.

8. The Executor or
Executrix
Depending on if it’s a male or female, is the
person who is going to read your will upon
your passing and make sure that your
wishes are satisfied, so it’s important to pick
the right person.

9. Ideally they are close to you, like your
husband or wife. In some cases, it could
be a brother or a sister, a parent or
even a child of somebody.
It’s also important that you pick a
secondary person as an executor or
executrix in case something happens to
the primary person.
When choosing an executor, it’s
important not to just pick them but sit
down with them and discuss if they are
willing to take on this role.

10. The last thing you want to do is pick somebody you think is
very close to you and it comes time and they are resistant to
being your executor.
An executor is an important role and they should understand
what’s involved; looking after your will and your wishes and
they should know where your will is.
If this person doesn’t know where your will is or what lawyer
your use, then they will have a hard time making sure your
wishes are executed.

11. The Beneficiaries
A beneficiary is someone who receive your
assets. It’s important to consider if you are
married, if you have kids, brothers and
sisters you want to help out – those are the
normal beneficiaries in a typical will.

12. In a typical example everything would go to your partner
and if something happens to them within so many days of
you passing, the alternative is; everything would go to all
of my children equally.
But you have to consider who you want to benefit from all
the assets you’ve built up in your life; all the money you
have, all the property you’ve acquired, who is going to
benefit from this?

13. If everything is going to be divided among the kids
equally and whatever number of kids that really is, that
can be stated in the will by your lawyer in a way that is
not going to be challenge-able.

14. Depending on what your wishes are, some challenges can
occur. This happens when you want to leave one child a little
more than another child; or if you want to leave two of your
kids everything and the third child nothing.
In order to make sure that your will can’t be challenged by
other children, you have to document your instructions
carefully and your lawyer should get an affidavit of some
sort before the will is even written.
The will should then be worded really well, because those
are the situations that can be easily challenged by the person
not getting any share.

15. Another possible scenario to consider is the spouses of your
children. In some instances the spouses of children can try
and make a claim to their inheritance.
Make sure you discuss with your lawyer, the proper wording
to make sure that doesn’t happen if you don’t want it to.

16. The Guardians
The fourth thing you should be considering
is if you have underage children (which is 18
in Canada), where you fundamentally
become their legal guardian.

17. It’s important to think about who you know that can take
care of your kids and raise them in the way you want them to
be raised.
You might also look at who’s going to be the guardian of their
inheritance, or you may want to restrict what they get until
they reach a certain age.
Also, think about who you can trust with their inheritance
since they aren’t old enough to handle it by themselves yet.

18. It very well could be 2 different people, if I’ve got my executor
who is a very organized person who I trust and will carry out
my wishes.
That person may not be the one who is going to take care of
your children.

19. If you have 2 different guardians – one for your children and
one for the will, you should also make sure there’s amounts
for the guardian of your children to support that child as they
grow up.

20. Special Gifts or
Requests
The final thing that you need to consider is if
there are any special gifts or requests that
you might have; you need to specifically
state what those are.

21. For example, if you have a ring that was passed down by your
grandmother and you have 3 boys and 1 girl and you want that
ring to go specifically to your girl that needs to be specifically
stated in the will.
Otherwise the general clause is that all your property will go
to your children equally.

22. That ring will probably get sold by the estate for money and
the money will be divided by the children, but if you
specifically make a statement that says that ring goes only to
your daughter, that will be taken out and given to the
daughter.
It’s important to specifically state certain gifts and requests
that you might have and you need to think about what those
are when you’re making your list – do I want a specific person
to have this?

23. If you have a charitable organization that’s done a lot of
support and work in your life and you want that charity or
organization to get a certain percentage of your assets, you
must state what that is and everything after that will go to
your children equally.

24. What you don’t want to do is to just walk into any lawyer’s
office and say “I want a will, just make it regular” and go sign
stuff.
What I recommend is you think about every aspect of what
you’re doing in your will.
Have that discussion with your lawyer, make sure that lawyer
documents that discussion in your file, so if there is some kind
of challenge later; the lawyer can produce some kind of
paperwork or evidence of your wishes.

25. As for choosing a lawyer, it’s important that they practice in
the area of family law and estates, trusts and wills. Good client
reviews are something you need to consider as well. Above all,
it is important that you feel comfortable when you talk with
your lawyer.

26. It is important to have experience in this area and that if there
are client reviews available for these lawyers that practice in
this area for their experience with them.
Above all, it is important that you feel comfortable when you
talk with the lawyer.

27. Maybe you have to talk to two or three and pick the best one
that you feel most comfortable with.
Taking the time to plan things properly can ensure seamless
implementation of your will.
The most important thing is that you feel that you can really
trust them, because after all you won’t be there to make sure
that things get done according to your wishes.