An expert on wills and estates has come up with an innovative way of encouraging people to plan for life after death.
Steve Bish has used Charles Dickens’ classic story of Scrooge as an inspiration to help clients get their affairs in order.
He uses scenes from the tale to illustrate the common pitfalls that people might encounter when it comes to making provisions for others after their death.
In a new blog he writes: “It’s Christmas Eve and Ebenezer Scrooge is lying in bed when he’s visited by the ghost of ‘I Don’t Need a Will’, formally known, before shuffling off her mortal coil, as Jane.
“Jane, when alive, thought she didn’t need a will because she didn’t have much to leave and it would all, “sort itself out”. Jane had three children aged 12, 14 and 17.
“She was divorced from their father who had since died himself. Had she made an estate plan and a will, she would have been advised to nominate guardians for her children.
“She may well have chosen a family member such as a brother or sister. Unfortunately, as no such arrangements were in place, her children had to endure the added distress of being made wards of court.”
Steve’s blog – which can be read in full here – comes in the wake of a survey by the Association of Lifetime Lawyers, which shows nearly half of UK adults have not made a will and a third would rather watch TV than write their will.
It also found that 32% said they haven’t made a will because they do not know how to get started.
A study by Co-op Legal Services has also found widespread confusion over inheritance and estate issues.
Some 31% of people for example did not realise that an estate passes to the Crown if a person has no blood relatives and does not leave a will.
To learn more about estate planning, read Steve’s full blog post at:
