Question on wills

[blunomore]

Yes, I studied law, but it is never a good idea to be one's own layer - that gives you a fool for a client

What do you legal types think of this - will it be sufficient to give a generic description of a property to be bequeathed in terms of a will, instead of a direct address?

In other words, if I do not want to amend my will or draft a new will each time I change my address (not that often, but might happen when one moves house once in a few years), is it acceptable to say e.g. "The property constituting the primary residence of the Testator at the time of his death, including all its contents, is bequeathed to XXX."

 

[blunomore]

51 views and nobody has an opinion.

Eish.

 

[maumau]

It sounds good to me. I've also contemplated leaving a percentage of my estate to each grandchild instead of having to change the fixed amount every few years.

 

[LazyLion]

Yes, I studied law, but it is never a good idea to be one's own layer - that gives you a fool for a client

What do you legal types think of this - will it be sufficient to give a generic description of a property to be bequeathed in terms of a will, instead of a direct address?

In other words, if I do not want to amend my will or draft a new will each time I change my address (not that often, but might happen when one moves house once in a few years), is it acceptable to say e.g. "The property constituting the primary residence of the Testator at the time of his death, including all its contents, is bequeathed to XXX."

I don't see why that would not be acceptable. You can make it even clearer by referring to it as your Domicilium.

 

[AvatarS]

Whenever I start to answer a legal question online, I start to recall that there are many factors that I'm not aware of and that raises a whole lot of questions before you can answer the original question...
Is the testator married? ICP/OCP? Joint will? Is he bequeathing it to his spouse/kids/other? Does he own more than one property?

Always start thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and make the decision from there...

 

[blunomore]

Is the testator married? Yes
ICP/OCP? In COP
Joint will? Yes
Is he bequeathing it to his spouse/kids/other? Spouse
Does he own more than one property? Yes

See my answers in red.

 

[ponder]

Can't you also say as registered by the deeds office etc.

 

[ice_cubes]

Yes, I studied law, but it is never a good idea to be one's own layer - that gives you a fool for a client

What do you legal types think of this - will it be sufficient to give a generic description of a property to be bequeathed in terms of a will, instead of a direct address?

In other words, if I do not want to amend my will or draft a new will each time I change my address (not that often, but might happen when one moves house once in a few years), is it acceptable to say e.g. "The property constituting the primary residence of the Testator at the time of his death, including all its contents, is bequeathed to XXX."

If you only have one property, then its ok to say *primary residence*, but if you have more than one property & spend time at the other properties as well, it could cause confusion

 

[blunomore]

Can't you also say as registered by the deeds office etc.

But one could have more than one property so registered which will lead to confusion.

If you only have one property, then its ok to say *primary residence*, but if you have more than one property & spend time at the other properties as well, it could cause confusion

Surely the one where you spend most time and use as your domicile is the primary property?

 

[Kornhub]

/puts Crime and Investigation channel on

 

[ice_cubes]

Surely the one where you spend most time and use as your domicile is the primary property?

The executor doesn't know where you spend most of your time.

The *domicile* could work.

 

[blunomore]

The executor does know where you spend most of your time.

The *domicile* could work.

Or *primary residence*

 

[LazyLion]

If you only have one property, then its ok to say *primary residence*, but if you have more than one property & spend time at the other properties as well, it could cause confusion

Primary residence or domicile would solve that as you just use whichever address the guy puts on his business forms as his given place of residence.

 

[AvatarS]

Based on your answers, I would actually use the property description on the title deed or at least the physical street address.
I can see things going wrong by just stating domicile or the place where is primarily resident (as an example, my officially stated domicile is in one city and where I spend most of my time is in a different city...)

Save the aggravation down the road and get the property details amended whenever he moves to a new property. It's unlikely to be that often anyway. Just consider it part of the moving process - move stuff, notify of change of address, update address in Will.

 

[blunomore]

I can see things going wrong by just stating domicile or the place where is primarily resident (as an example, my officially stated domicile is in one city and where I spend most of my time is in a different city...)

In his case, domicile = address where he lives as well.

 

[Palimino]

Whenever I start to answer a legal question online, I start to recall that there are many factors that I'm not aware of and that raises a whole lot of questions before you can answer the original question...
Is the testator married? ICP/OCP? Joint will? Is he bequeathing it to his spouse/kids/other? Does he own more than one property?

Always start thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and make the decision from there...

Spoken like a true lawyer. The scope for litigation must always be increased.

 

[LollyGP]

Based on your answers, I would actually use the property description on the title deed or at least the physical street address.
I can see things going wrong by just stating domicile or the place where is primarily resident (as an example, my officially stated domicile is in one city and where I spend most of my time is in a different city...)

Save the aggravation down the road and get the property details amended whenever he moves to a new property. It's unlikely to be that often anyway. Just consider it part of the moving process - move stuff, notify of change of address, update address in Will.

+1 To save on confusion and frustration i would put the erf number or physical address and just change it if you move.