August - September 2015

98 146

98 Aug-Sep15
LIFE&FAMILY
which a dependant would probably win,
if he or she had simply been left out of
the will. Civil Code systems are setup
to prevent exclusion of a dependant
from inheriting your estate, but there
are ways of minimising the share that
the estranged family member would be
entitled to inherit.
Does a family member need to be
appointed as an executor of an
estate?
Many people believe they must appoint
a professional as the executor, often
the firm that they appointed as their
will writers. However, probate – albeit
time consuming – is not a difficult task,
especially if you’ve prepared well by
making a will and documenting the state
of your affairs. We recommend that you
appoint a family member or close friend
as your executor, and include provisions
in your will for your executors to appoint
professionals to assist them with the
process if needed. This way, your family
has control over the legal fees and time
involved in the process, but still with the
possibility of seeking assistance.
What happens with regard to
the care of very young children
if something happens to both
parents?
If there’s no evidence of a guardian
being appointed, whether in a will or by
a Deed of Appointment of Guardianship,
then the State takes responsibility
until a guardian is found. If no suitable
person is available or willing to take the
responsibility, then the State remains in
charge of the orphaned child or children
for the rest of their minority. If both
sets of grandparents apply to become
guardians, there is the possibility of a
major family rift if they cannot agree. The
legal rights are with the father’s family
if the couple is married, but whichever
way the court decides, it will not award
the children to either set while there is
a dispute raging on. Godparents have
no legal status, though most people
choose them as people who could bring
up the children if circumstances took
their parents away. The appointment
must be made in a legal document;
nothing else will guarantee that the
preferred guardians of your children will
be appointed as you would wish.
Are wills easy to change?
Changes to a will are necessary from
time to time, but any attempts to modify
an existing will by crossing out text or
writing in the margins actually result in
the whole document being rejected by
the Probate Office. To change a will, you
have to either add a codicil or engage in
a full re-write, depending on the scope
of the changes.
How much does a will cost?
Prices range from cheap to expensive.
When shopping around, make sure
that you are quoted a fixed price so
that costs aren’t added if your situation
turns out to be more complex than
initially anticipated; many firms offer
basic, cheap wills, but they don’t cover
every eventuality. Then you have the
very expensive, complex, 20+ page
documents, which can be difficult for a
layperson to interpret. Often you pay for
the added legal phrases, which aren’t
actually necessary and more often than
not confuse clients so much that they
give up on reading through them.
Phoenix Wills offers a prime service
at a medium price level, with two cost
structures. Our prices are fixed and
no added charges will arise even if the
circumstances of the client turn out to
be complex, or if he changes his mind
several times throughout the process.
With a document as important as a
will, you should be more concerned
about finding a will writer who you’re
comfortable with, rather than the one
offering the best price.
What’s the process of getting a
will drawn up through Phoenix
Wills?
After an initial meeting to take your
instructions, we then work on a first
draft of your will. When you’re happy
with the draft (which can be changed
as many times as you want), we will
mirror to cover your spouse and any
other jurisdictions that may be needed.
We then meet again to sign and attest
your wills in accordance with legal
requirements. The entire process usually
takes four to six weeks, but it can be
completed in days if there’s an urgent
need. We then offer a safe storage
solution whereby you are reminded to
check in with us if there are any updates
to be made, and your executors are
reminded where your wills are kept if
they need to retrieve them.
For more information, visit
As a general rule of
thumb, expats should
have wills for their
countries of origin
and their countries of
residence