We have always recommended that everyone should have a properly prepared will and have on many occasions sternly recommended avoiding will kits and the like. A recent judgment in Western Australian Supreme Court reflects why we say this.

In the judgment Justice Sanderson stated: “On numerous occasions when dealing with so-called homemade wills, I have observed they are a curse. Homemade wills which utilise what is sometimes known as a ‘will kit’ are not much better. This case proves the point. The disposition effected by the will is not complicated and no doubt the testator had clearly in mind what she intended to achieve. But the way the will is drafted is difficult, and the parties have been put to the trouble and expense of coming to the court seeking directions as to its proper interpretation. If the will had been drafted by a competent legal practitioner, this problem would not have arisen and the parties would have been spared a great deal of trouble and expense.”

In all things, good it right the first time for total peace of mind!