Letter of Wishes! How to keep some privacy, even after death.

Wills can be a public ordeal and although you may no longer be around to deal with any of the fall out, there are occasions where you may not want your reasoning or wishes to be openly available for everyone to see.

Families, friendships and personal choices can be made up in many different formats these days. Firstly, this means that making sure you document who is getting what is more important than ever but many feel the need to give an explanation on why they have made the decisions.  It’s at this point that you may want to consider what options you have to keep some privacy even after you have passed on.

Let’s start at the beginning, your Will is a personal document where you can bequeath belongings, assets, property and money to whom ever you choose. Their origins date back to ancient Greece but it was the Romans who adapted the rules to give us something that is more familiar with today’s intestacy laws. Essentially, Wills were designed as a way of passing on or handing down a legacy and more importantly, to make sure essential assets, wealth and belongings, stayed withing the family unit.

The world has changed enormously since the days of the Roman Empire and modern family life is very different from when the initial Statute of Wills act was passed in 1540.

Once probate has been granted, all modern Wills are added to a database, this means that if someone passes away, there is documented evidence about how they wished their wealth to be distributed, these documents are openly available for the public to see, albeit for a small fee.