My loved one has died – locating the Will or informal Will
Death of a loved one is an emotional and often overwhelming time. The last thing you want to think about is the legal work involved. Luckily, in most cases the legal steps are not urgent, and things can wait a few weeks.
Once you do need to get the Estate underway, one of the first tasks for you, in conjunction with a lawyer at O’Farrell Robertson McMahon, is to locate the Will.
For most people, their loved ones know that the Will is located with O’Farrell Robertson McMahon – particularly because we encourage our clients to discuss the Will and its location with their Executors.
If you do not know where the Will is stored, OFRM lawyers can assist you in trying to locate the Will.
If you have no luck in locating a formal Will, it is worth continuing the search to determine whether there was an informal Will left.
Legislation governing Wills in Victoria provides strict guidelines on how a Will must be executed. However, not all Wills meet these guidelines. In such cases, informal Wills, which might take the form of an unsigned electronic document, a video recording, or even in some cases a suicide note, are dealt with on a case by case basis by the Supreme Court of Victoria, to determine whether the Willmaker intended the document to be their last Will. The Supreme Court must be satisfied of 3 factors:
There was a document left;
The document purports to record the testamentary intentions/wishes of the deceased;
The deceased intended the document should operate as a Will.
Although the Supreme Court has discretion to admit an informal Will into Probate, this is often a time consuming, complex and costly process. The outcome is also very uncertain.
By making an appointment with a lawyer at OFRM you can avoid extra stress on your loved ones in an already difficult time by ensuring you have a valid and up to date Will which has been executed properly.
If you are left in a situation where a loved one has died and you have located a possible informal Will, the team at OFRM are able to assist. You can book an appointment through our website, or phone myself on 03 5445 1063 to have a chat first.