Making Your Own Will Could Lead To An ‘Own Goal’

Persons who make their own Wills are known amongst litigation lawyers as a "lawyers' delight".

That is because they frequently make mistakes that end up before the courts either to have the Will rectified by a judge or results in vitriolic litigation amongst family members who disagree over its terms.

In either case, we can say that making your own Will can often result in an "own goal".

I have gathered some examples of actual cases that illustrate the point that a do-it-yourself approach to making a Will is akin to courting disaster.

A very senior and educated civil servant (CS) made his own Will. CS got the legalities correct, but did not think through the consequences of his Will. CS named his daughter by his first marriage his sole executrix and named his daughter and his second wife as his beneficiaries "...to share his estate in such manner as they shall mutually agree".