Author Archives: formalwill.ca

A Last Will and Testament is an important legal document that outlines how you want your assets to be distributed after you die. It can also include provisions for the care and custody of minor children, the appointment of a personal representative to manage your estate, and other matters. Everyone knows why it’s important, and yet, as we have previously seen, in the case of major celebrity deaths (Amy Winehouse, Prince, etc.,) is that not having the proper legal document in place leads to constant squabbling in court, battling it out over money, etc. 

This latest death with Aaron Carter is no different: the 34-year-old American singer and rapper died in November 2022 without, you guess it, a Last Will after his death. Carter, who is the younger brother of his more famous Nick Carter, from the 90’s boy band, Backstreet Boys, had amassed a fortune of his own. At the time of his death in November 2022, details of his death were not released. 

 His fortune was less than what many would have expected from the brother of Nick Carter, but still enough to live comfortably. Carter unfortunately ignored the advice given to him by his lawyers: to have a Will drawn up. For someone with a fortune of around $400k, having a Last Will and Testament would have been prudent. Perhaps like many other celebrities we have reported on, Carter believed he was either too young or too busy to draft one up? Aaron is lucky that his loved ones aren’t fighting it out in court. The only one that his fortune really concerns is to ensure that his 11-month-old son, Prince Lyric, will be taken care of. You can read more about Carter’s case here. 

Anger. Guilt. Sadness. Are these emotions that come to mind when it comes to Will planning? It’s not uncommon for people to feel emotional when planning for their will. This can be a difficult and emotional process, as it involves thinking about one’s own mortality and making decisions about how your assets will be distributed after you’re gone.

Some common emotions that people may experience when planning for their will include:

1. Sadness: Thinking about your own death can be a difficult and emotional experience, and it’s not uncommon for people to feel sadness when planning for their will.
2. Anxiety: Making decisions about how your assets will be distributed after you’re gone can be stressful and may cause anxiety.
3. Guilt: Some people may feel guilty about certain decisions they make in their will, such as disinheriting a loved one or leaving more to one person than another.
4. Relief: For some people, the process of planning for their will can be a relief because it allows them to take control of their affairs and ensure that their wishes are carried out after they’re gone.

If you’re feeling emotional while planning for your will, it’s important to take care of yourself and seek support if needed.

Now that that’s out of the way, here are some things to consider when it comes to managing the emotions of others, when planning for your estate:

• Talking to a loved one or a family member about being an Executor.
• Once you have named who gets what in your Last Will, you should outline who gets whatever remaining items are leftover
• Do you have backup beneficiaries for the items you want to list in your Last Will? You may want to think about that

Find out more about what you may need to know about Wills by clicking on the link below and checking out the interesting video on Wills and Estate Planning that you might want to watch. It’s a video that is mostly geared towards citizens in the U.S., but the advice is always helpful for everyone. 

What would you like to know about what goes into a Will?

A pair of siblings were shocked to learn that they had been disinherited from their mother’s Last Will and Testament. Their mother, who passed away in July of 2022 did have a Last Will and Testament, but one that left the brother and sister reeling from shock and surprise: not only had they been disinherited, but the executor of their mother’s estate was someone whom neither of them had even met. The family was left in disarray. 

How did the role of the Executor of their mother’s estate land in the hands of Australian Redlands Mayor, KAREN Williams? That question has left the children, Freya and Nils, scratching their heads and trying to figure out what’s going on, and how this happened. 

Being disinherited from a will means that the pair have been excluded from receiving any of the assets or property specified in the will. This can be a difficult and emotional experience. Not only were the pair disinherited, and someone they don’t know has taken up the role of Executor, but the late 85-year-old’s estate, worth $500,000, has all been left to an organization called  called the Redlands Foundation. The Foundation is allegedly involved in philanthropic causes, and has a 12 member board, including, of course, Karen Williams. The siblings may have legal options available to them; they could argue in court that their mother’s will was not validly executed or that it was the result of fraud, duress, or undue influence. Angela, the woman who passed away was suffering from dementia. If you were a dependent of the person who made the will, they may also be able to make a claim against their estate for support.

It’s a truly bizarre case: was Angela manipulated by someone, influenced by something she saw on television? How close was she to her children to have never mentioned something AT ALL to her son and daughter? You can read more about the case, here.