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This is Topic: Wills & Probate
Following are the News Items published under this Topic.
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The new ruling which was approved recently by the President of the High Court, Richard Johnson now prevents members of the public or the media getting access to the details of a person’s estate unless they are a direct beneficiary of a will. This is a change to the established practice of the past 42 years.
After an examination by the Probate Office the President of the High Court issued a ‘practice direction’ to the Probate Office that a document known as the Inland Revenue Affidavit, which lists details of property and other assets held by a person, can now only be inspected by people who benefit from a will or a Government Official who has a legitimate interest in its contents.
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Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 11:33
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Amendments are to be introduced to the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2006 which will make it easier for trustees to vary existing trusts on behalf of beneficiaries.
The amendments will facilitate those who administer trusts on behalf of elderly clients and will provide them with flexibility to have a trust varied in certain circumstances eg allowing sale of a property and use the proceeds to provide more suitable accommodation.
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The Law Reform Commission has published two consultation papers on trust law and charitable trust law (16 February 2005). The Commission made a number of recommendations:
· A proposed general statutory duty of care of trustees
Trustees should be subject to a general statutory duty of care and be required to act with objective ‘reasonable care and skill’. This duty of care would also apply to trustees of charitable trusts with modifications eg that they must ‘act in the interests of the charity and ‘to seek, in good faith, to ensure that the charity acts in a manner which is consistent with its purposes.’
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It is important to make a Will to place yourself in a position to provide for the distribution of your assets by means of a clear Legal Document which will only take effect when you die. It allows an individual to provide for the special needs of family members and can also be used with proper advice as a tax planning opportunity. By drafting a Will you can make provision for minor children in the event of your death. Inheritance by a minor child are usually held in trust by the executors/trustees of the Will until the minor comes of age.
Appointing a second Executor is also very important, since it covers a situation where one of the Executors dies. The Executor should have extensive knowledge of the deceased's assets because without this it is possible for some assets to go untraced thereby depleting the inheritance of the beneficiaries.
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