Use of Land Law in a Will - Case Study Example

Land Law The purpose of his paper I to discuss e planning. The e that will be advised in this paper is the future e of Ursula'sand the objective is to leave equal shares of it to her three children, Abby, Ben and Charles. There are stipulations and special arrangements that Ursula wants stipulated in the will. The first issue to address is how Ursula will ensure that the children have equal shares in the land. In order to do this Ursula should seek the services of an estate management attorney. Ursula has already decided what she wants the stipulations in her will to be. These stipulations are regarding who she wants to manage the estate, the home and other details of how the property will be divided and cared for. It is wise of Ursula to know these in advance so they can be included in her will. The next important step in planning her estates is to know what kind of will that is necessary for her situation. By that, it is meant the land ownership, the mortgage and other important details that should be known prior to making out the will. (Estate Planning) The wills that Ursula should be interested in are Wills for Widows and Widowers because her estate has already been an estate after her husband died. It would also be wise of Ursula to consider a living will. " A Living Will allows an individual to make decisions about their health care in advance in case they ever are incapacitated and unable to do so. "(Markesmis and Deakin) Ursula's primary concern is that her children will be catered to after her death and both of these wills will ensure that her wishes will be fulfilled. The current state of the property is as follows: in the estate of Terry, who just died in 2005, all of the property was left to the children, Abby, Ben and Charles, in equal shares, but Ursula remained in possession of the matrimonial home which she had owned jointly with Terry up until his death. The outstanding mortgage debt secured against the home is now very small. Since the property has already been willed to the children and has gone through probate, or will be through it shortly, legally the three children already have the legal rights to the property and it has been deeded to them accordingly. The stipulation that Ursula will have to make in her will concerns who will remain in possession of the matrimonial home upon her death. There also remains the fact that a small mortgage exists. (Estate Planning) Ursula has expressed that she would like these stipulations to be set forth concerning her estate: that the land will remain unsold until the last of her children shall die, that each of her children shall have the right to reside in the house for part of the year, appoint her older brother, Victor, to be the sole independent trustee of the house "to ensure fair play at all times" and to ensure that Abby, who has a degree in estate management, has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the house. These are all important aspects and it is wise of Ursula to have thought of them. However to ensure that her wishes will be granted she must have this put into writing. It should be done by legal counsel and each stipulation should be written out clearly conveying her wishes and the names that she wants to be included in each part of the estate. A personal representative or executor is the first thing that Ursula should choose. She has already named her brother Viktor as she feels he will remain an impartial party. Having a personal representative or executor ensures that the wishes of Ursula regarding the estate will be carried out. A personal representative or executor of an estate is responsible for making sure that the wishes set forth in the will and estate plan are carried out. (Brinkworth and Gibson) Ursula will also be given the option of choosing an alternate personal representative or executor. The alternate will be responsible if something happens to the original executor. After the personal representative or executor has been selected, the next step for Ursula to take is to list all children from any relationship, born to her or adopted by you. (Note: Do not list stepchildren unless you have adopted them. (Brinkworth and Gibson) If Ursula wants to leave something to a stepchild. However, in the information given Ursula only has three children. The children were already equally given the property but it is important to lit all of this information in Ursula's will for legal sake and to make matters more clear and easier. It is important to note that Ursula must list all children. Any child not specifically named in her Will may have the right to claim against the Will as if no Will had been created. (Clerks and Lindsell) The next step that Ursula's legal counsel will take her through Is listing her grandchildren. In the information given it was not disclosed if Ursula had any grandchildren. If she does have any or wants future grandchildren included in any of the estate she has possession of she must list it at this time and state her stipulations. Clerks and Lindsell recommend that a person "may want to list all of their grandchildren. because depending on local law, a grandchild not specifically named in the Will may have the right to claim against the Will as if no Will had been created. (Clerk and Lindsell) The next portion of the will that Ursula and her counsel will be concerned with is the Special Gift section. In this section of her will Ursula can set forth any special gifts she wants to grant to anyone. The number of special gifts will be noted in the will. In this section of the will if Ursula wants to give certain people specific things they will be listed her" Make sure that the gift is described well enough that anyone reading the Will would recognize what you mean."(Markesmis and Deakin) At this point it is important for Ursula to check for some things she cannot give in her Will. She cannot give: her your spouse's property, the proceeds of a life insurance policy that already has a named beneficiary or jointly held property where there is a right of survivorship. Ursula's husband is deceased and the property has legally been willed to the three children. The law that she cannot give the spouse's property does not apply in this case. The life insurance proceeds of her spouse have already been taken care of. The right to survivorship is one stipulation Ursula should work out with her legal counsel, as to how the property will be shared between her children if one of them should die. As well the specifics of each of the children retaining ownership of the property and home until their death should be carefully spelled out in this section of the will also. (Clerk and Lindsell) If Ursula is going to have a will made out with stipulations and specific wishes she must be adamant that these things are spelled out very clearly. They should be listed so that anyone reading the will can understand the directions. She must also be careful to name all beneficiaries, give the beneficiary's gender, age and name. Here special instructions including sharing of the home and property and her brother, Viktor as executor and overseer to make sure the estate is kept "fair" should all be listed clearly as well. The most important aspect of a will is clearly specifying your wishes. Everyone that you want included should not be overlooked and it should never be assumed that something will be taken care of or someone else will make sure that a party is going to receive what they deserve or what your wishes are. Ursula has some specific wishes and she must be clear in stating all of them. It is also important that she name alternate people or alternate plans so that her wishes are carried out. The most important thing for Ursula to do is to specify her wishes in writing using names and giving specific descriptions of her wishes. These instructions should be clearly written out so that anyone that is not familiar with the family, the estate or the assets could execute Ursula's wishes. One of Ursula's primary concerns was that the land would remain unsold until the last of her children shall die. Ursula needs to request this specifically in writing and a clause or stipulation will have to be put on the deed to the property at such a time when the will is executed and goes through probate. Ursula also wanted to ensure that each of her children should have the right to reside in the house for part of the year. Ursula has to put this into writing in her will as well. There is a foreseen problem with this stipulation and that would occur in the even the children cannot come to an agreement who will have access to the property and when. Although Viktor has been named to 'referee' this it would be wise of Ursula to have a talk with her children concerning this sharing of the property manner. She should come to an agreement and put it in writing to avoid future tension or fighting over the property. It would be recommended that Viktor partake in these talks as well and when everything is mutually agreed upon Ursula should list the provisions in her will. It has already been discussed that Ursula will appoint her older brother, Victor, to be the sole independent trustee of the house "to ensure fair play at all times". This should be made known to her children so there is no disagreement to the arrangement in the future. However, what Ursula decides and sets forth in her will is what goes. It is also important to note that the property has been given in equal shares to the children already. Apparently no stipulations of who will have possession and when were obviously Nat made Ursula can make these provisions now in her will because she is in possession of the matrimonial home. Another important wish that Ursula has is that Abby, who has degree in estate management, has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the house. At the time that this is set forth in the will Ursula's legal counsel will discuss compensation with her. It is probable that Abby will want some fashion of compensation for managing the house. At this time money may be set aside to take care of this expense, the amount and when it will be distributed should be decided upon at this time. Ursula is smart to plan for the future and t have a will that will ensure her wishes for how her children are taken care of in the future is important. References Brinkworth, E. R. C. and Gibson. "Gibson Banbury Wills and Inventories" (1998) Clerk & Lindsell on Torts. Professor Margaret Brazier (general editor). 17th ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1995 with 1997 supplement. Estate Planner. "Planning Your Estate - Will Writing To Funeral Planning" (2005) As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.estate-planner.co.uk/ Markesinis, Basil S. and Simon Deakin. Tort Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Read More