The Importance of Having a Will

The process of having your Will prepared can seem daunting. At Stokes Law, we strive to streamline that process and make it as easy as possible for you.

Your Will allows you to set out your wishes, who will be in charge of distributing your estate and who will receive your estate. This includes your property, investments, personal belongings and business interests. 

A Will may be one of the most important documents you can have. When you die, if you do not have a Will (called Intestate), there will be no one appointed to have control of and distribute your property in accordance with your wishes. The following are a few consequences of having no Will when you die: 

• Your loved ones are forced to go through a tedious Court process and incur significant costs compared to the cost of preparing a Will. This can cause fighting and unnecessary stress between family members;

• If you have children under the age of 18 or pets, there will be no one appointed to care for them. The Court process to appoint someone after your passing can be very time consuming and costly;

• If it was your wish that some of your money be donated to Charity after you die, without a Will specifying that, this may not occur and your Estate would not be able to benefit from the tax credit for this donation;

• You lose the ability to dictate how your assets are spent and if you have minor beneficiaries, when and how they receive access to those assets. 

Having a Will provides peace of mind and allows you to make all of the decisions for your Estate, not the Court or a Court appointed representative. Without a Will, the process of obtaining probate and getting to distribution is much slower. 

In addition to a Will, you can also prepare a Power of Attorney and a Personal Directive. 

A Personal Directive allows you to appoint someone you trust to make medical decisions for you when you are not able to.  

A Enduring Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to control your financial affairs should you be unable to.

We suggest having all three (3) documents of the above documents (Will, Enduring Power of Attorney and Personal Directive) completed and we offer competitive pricing when you prepare them at the same time. 

Should you wish to proceed with having your Will, Power of Attorney and/or Personal Directive prepared, please don’t hesitate to contact our office for a consultation.  

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