Lesson #1: Get a solicitor to do up your will.
1. Everyone should make a will if they have assets and family they wish to provide for.
This is a little simplistic. The absence of a will certainly is no guarantee of avoiding later litigation over an estate
"Lesson #3: If the legal profession becomes involved in a dispute like this, they'll end up with most of the money."
Excellent(not!), broad, sweeping statement. Clients have disputes and solicitors act for them. I am still astounded at the regularity with which this very basic, simple, concept is forgotten. Clients as well as solicitors can be appallingly difficult. Solicitors will very often do their best to negotiate settlements in these cases but, ya know what, when money comes into it, sense often goes out the window!
mf
"I've never seen a convincing argument for having a will where the persons intention is to follow basic inheritance laws. "
I'm always interested at how profoundly complicated so many of my clients' lives are! Sometimes, what is abundantly straightforward on the surface, becomes very murky when you go looking.
I'm not convinced that most lay people have a good basic understanding of the basic inheritance laws at all ( i.e. no common law spousals benefits, no inheritance rights after divorce, "validity" of church versus state "marriages", absolute confidence of offspring that they are entitled to an inheritance). It is absolutely vital for parents of under age children to make a will - the consequences of not doing so can be horrendous ( although less so now that most family homes are held in joint names).
I have one ghastly time bomb ticking over at the moment where father died having failed to make a will and where one of the grown children suffers very badly with an undiagnosed/untreated mental illness. How he could have left the mess he did, when he could so easily have resolved it is beyond me.
False. There are numerous ways to have a dispute over the division of the estate, either with or without a will.
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