A good week to draft a will

Attorneys on the LSSA website ready to draft at no cost.

- Adriaan Kruger

SOCIETY: HUNDREDS OF LAWYERS COUNTRYWIDE PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL WILLS WEEK.

Thousands of people have taken advantage of the offer by lawyers to draft a last will and testament for them free of charge since the Law Society of SA (LSSA) launched National Wills Week in 2008. The initiative prompted law firms and providers of trust and executor services to do wills for free.

This week until tomorrow - hundreds of lawyers are available in most cities and towns to help draw up a will free of charge.

Participating attorneys in all nine provinces are listed on the LSSA website.

In reality, the majority of people will be able to get a will for free all year round.

Lawyers, banks, life offices, specialised trust service providers and executors of wills will draw up a simple last will and testament free of charge, usually under the unspoken agreement that they would be appointed as executors and collect the 3.5% fee when executing the will in future.

Some people will need more than just a basic will and will be better off paying for advice.

This would include those with complicated business interests, assets in different countries, multiple properties, diverse types of investments, virtual assets, and second marriages with the children and stepchildren that go with that.

Freedom to decide