The Main Reason I Wrote My Will

The Main Reason I Wrote My Will

My dad passed away last year. May Allah have mercy on his soul. I was named executor in his Will, so I was charged with settling all of his affairs and most importantly getting things in order so that my mum could reestablish her life.

It was then that I realised the true value of having a validly drafted Will.

People look to write Wills for many reasons. Some are very concerned about how their assets will be distributed after they pass away. Others want to make sure that their children are properly cared for. Whilst for others they are very concerned about their funeral and burial being conducted in the correct way.

Whilst these are all very important reasons for writing a Will – it’s not the main reason I would write a Will. My main driver is for my family and to ease their burden at a time when they are grieving my loss.

Why so?

After my dad passed there were so many things that needed to be done. This included:

  • collecting money his bank accounts;
  • transferring the registration of his car;
  • updating his records with government agencies;
  • obtaining his death certificate; and
  • closing his accounts with various service providers.

Thankfully he had prepared a Will with Wasiyyah, which made the process of establishing my authority to settle his affairs seamless.

The alternative is that I would have first had to have applied to the Supreme Court for what is known as Letters of Administration. This in essence is an Order granted by the Supreme Court which gives a person the legal right to deal with the estate of a deceased person.

The process of applying for Letters of Administration is complicated, time consuming and potentially costly exercise (particularly if you need to engage a Lawyer to help you with it.) I know that by writing a Will I can spare my family the hassle and this is the main reason I wrote my Will.