Necessity of Wills and Memorandom of Wishes
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Articles by The Professional Trustee Team.
Now there's always at least 3 sides to a story but if the article in the New Zealand Herald is anything to go by, it would appear a family home and its contents were sold without potential beneficiaries being told.
The facts as reported are something like this:
- Mrs Haworth gives the Public Trust an enduring Power of Attorney in 2010. This means the Public Trust are put in charge of all her affairs.
- Mrs Haworth moves into a rest home and a couple of years later, the Public Trust make a decision to sell the family home.
- The family beneficiaries, being Mrs Haworth's daughters, were not told the home had been placed on the market for sale.
- The daughters have yet to be informed by the Public Trust of the sale price of the home and the distribution of those proceeds.
What does the above story teach us? Easy Peasey. Ensure you personally take steps to let others know what you want to happen with your assets and the assets that may be in your trust. Do this via your Will and a Memorandum of Wishes. Put these documents in place – NOW. Don't leave what happens to others. If you do that, you could well end up not having your wishes followed and hurting those you love and leave behind.
If you need help with these matters, please contact Trustee Services by calling (09) 522 7955 or emailing info@gra.co.nz.
The Professional Trustee Team
© Gilligan Rowe & Associates LP
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Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide only a summary of the issues associated with the topics covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive nor to provide specific advice. No person should act in reliance on any statement contained within this article without first obtaining specific professional advice. If you require any further information or advice on any matter covered within this article, please contact the author.
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This letter is to express my appreciation for the assistance and encouragement of both Anthony Lipscombe and particularly John Heaslip over the last financial year. The period since activating my trading trust has been one of considerable stress, as well as personal development, as I embarked on this as a relative business neophyte with virtually no awareness of the contemporary requirements of running a business, particularly the financial records aspect. During much of this period I have therefore felt considerable out of my depth. However I have been lucky enough to have had the benefit of the advice and support of John Heaslip in rationalizing what was a fairly chaotic set of records of the first year property trading. I am able to say that John in particular, has been unstinting in his attention to my needs and has done so in a manner which has never alluded to my extremely rudimentary grasp of managing a business, or even of being unable to set out a spread sheet properly. The result of the above guidance is that now, although my trading trust would still not be able to operate without the advice of GRA, I do least feel a sense of satisfaction that I have got to my present point without major disaster and that my property trust does now have some kind of firmer basis for any future activities - Name withheld by request
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