’To live will be an awfully big adventure!’ said Peter Pan

Unless you are of the same gene pool as Moses none of us is going to live indefinitely.

Retirement provides an ideal opportunity to reflect and focus on your will and estate planning.

There are many reasons for making a will:

Appointment of Executors

Your executor is the person that you choose in your will to administer your estate in accordance with your wishes. If there is no will, the statutory rules of intestacy will dictate who is entitled to administer your estate. These rules do not take into account an individual’s suitability or geographical location to act as administrator.

Your funeral wishes

Funeral arrangements can sometimes create tension. Having your wishes clearly set out in your will can reduce contentious family situations.

Providing for loved ones

You can provide for your loved ones in your will e.g. vulnerable or disabled family members who are reliant on you for financial support. There are no forced heirship rules in the Isle of Man so you have full discretion as to whom you would like to benefit.

Having a will can reduce the amount of disputes and avoid potential litigation.

The rules of intestacy do not allow for complex family relationships. If you die without a will your estate may go to persons that you may not wish to benefit or those that you have no close connection to e.g. estranged siblings or children.

Appointment of Guardians

For those with minor children this is a key practical issue. You can decide in your will who you would like to raise your children in the event that all of their parents/ guardians have passed. It also gives you an opportunity to set up a trust for your children if you want to defer their inheritance until they are a little older.

Preservation of family enterprise

Most people want their family business or farm to continue after death. You can plan for this in your will. If the intestacy rules apply, this may require a division of estate forcing a sale of the family business or farm that might have been in the family for several generations.

International assets

If you have a holiday home abroad making a will can help ascertain and perhaps minimise certain pitfalls such as foreign inheritance taxes or forced heirship rules.

Charitable giving

You can gift money to a charity in your will. In the absence of a will, a person’s estate devolves to their nearest relatives (including potentially estranged or distant relatives) and there’s no provision for more perhaps worthy causes such as a charity.