To my dog Bessie...I bequeath my Ferrari

[Aquamonet]

That was my attempt at making this subject not totally depressing.

I am writing a scene where the main characters father has died. His father was very successful and careful with money so had quite a lot stashed. They have a lawyer reading the will out. I need a bunch of questions answered:

1) Does anyone know of a good basic will template that I can use for him to read out? I know the kind of language bequeath this, bequeath that but I would be annoyed if the will didn't sound proper when read out?

2) When a will is read out would only family be allowed to be present or would say business partners be involved (this man owned a large share of a successful company, I am going to look into what would normally happen in this case but from what I remember is shares are like any other possession, he could give them to who he wanted)?

This is in a British setting but I think it's pretty similar everywhere. I have had a look online for help but you know what lawyers are like there's nothing giving out information for free.

[Orion283]

This won't help at all but will likely be amusing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFldBVWFgWo)

[mcnicks]

Are wills still read out? Without wanting to sound morose, I have one to hand. It goes roughly:

"I, blah, residing at blah, in order to settle the succession to my estate after my death provide as follows:"

Then there are loads of numbered paragraphs, but the highlights will be:

"ONE I revoke all prior wills and testamentary writings."

"TWO I appoint blah, residing at blah and blah, residing at blah to be my Executors."

"THREE I direct my executors to give effect to any future writings subscribed by me however informal the same may be provided that in the opinion of my Executors they clearly express my intentions."

"FOUR I direct that unless otherwise specified any legacy granted by any writing shall be paid as soon as my Executors consider practical after my death free of government duties in respect of my death but without interest."


Those are the important bits, that basically say: ignore anything I might have said before; these guys get to interpret what the rest of this means; if they have reason to believe I subsequently changed my mind and have some written evidence, take account of it; if I owe anybody money, pay them off before giving anything to the beneficiaries.

From then on, you get numbered paragraphs containing the nitty gritty, all starting with the phrase "I direct my Executors to blah blah blah." Ohh and there are lots of conditional things in there afterwards saying along the lines:

"If blah does not survive me for thirty days or does survive but disclaims in whole or in part the bequest of residue to them ... blah blah blah"

Which basically describes what happens is one of the beneficiaries cannot, for one reason or another, accept the bequest.

Finally, there is a lot of legal mumbo jumbo about property and who gets to sell it, and what can happen, when, and for what purpose.

[Aquamonet]

I don't think Wills are often read out but this is just one of those type of families. Very traditional and grandiose (if that's the right word). There is property involved but I'm obviously not going to go into that too much cause it would be a bit boring and all the reader needs to know is who gets what.

Orion: Unfortunately there is a bug in flashplayer which means I get no sound on flash sites (spent this evening looking it up) but I'm sure the vids hilarious.

[MelancholyBliss]

In the cases that wills get read out, often all parties having something bequeathed to them can be contacted to take audience. This could be family, business associates, the neighbor down the street, the mailman or some random homeless guy. Especially if that was the expressed wish of the deceased.

[vindemiatrix]

Haha, Aqua.

Have you written this? I'd like to see it.