The story you have been dying to hear: the do-it-yourself will kit. You will be coughing up a mere $14.95, instead of undertaking to pay a lawyer perhaps $100 or more for the relatively easy task of disposing of your property to you near and dear upon death.
The Blue Ribbon Will was launched this week by Senator Barney Cooney at Mortuary Station in Sydney. It is published by Legal and Commercial Publishing PO Box 583 Potts Point 2011. Phone 02 3681015.
The kit sets out the legal requirements for a will and gives a dozen examples. It provides definitions of terms.
There are many basic traps in preparing a will. It also provides a check list of practical tips for the testator (person who makes a will).
The kit is certainly better than attempting to write a will without any advice at all, as some people do and often fail to comply with legal formalities. However, every case is different. If you have a lot of assets and you want them divided in anything but a straightforward way, it is better to spend the money on a solicitor.
It would certainly better to use the kit than die intestate (without a will). If you die without a will you heirs will have to go through a lot of bureaucratic hassle in getting property from your name into theirs.
I have one criticism: the advice on organ donation is really dumb. Your will is not the place to leave instructions about organ donation. The proper place for that is on your drivers’ licence, carried with you. Ask about it when you renew your licence. By the time someone has scratched around looking for you will, your organs will not be worth transplanting.
The Blue Ribbon Will, however, will remain the one do-it-yourself project that you never know how it turns out.