Legal Brief with Alan Tate of Harris Tate www.harristate.co.nz

Recent publicity about the will of undercover policeman Don Wilkinson highlights the need to keep your will up to date.

Mr Wilkinson was fatally shot during a police surveillance operation in September 2008. He had a will which he made in 1985 when his assets were two guitars and a secondhand car. That will left everything to his adoptive father. At the time of his death he had assets worth in excess of $2 million. His mother, with whom he was close, was not mentioned in the will and received nothing.

While that may have been Mr Wilkinson's intention, you would also have to think that if he had updated his 23-year-old will, the outcome might have been substantially different.

There don't seem to be any figures available for New Zealand, but research in the UK, which is likely to be similar, has shown that 57 per cent of the adult population do not have a will at all. Of those who do have wills, 33 per cent have not updated those wills in the past five years.

A will needs to be reviewed and if necessary updated at least every five years to take account of changing financial circumstances and when any major change takes place such as the sale or purchase of a property or business, the receipt of an inheritance, the establishment of a family trust, a change in personal relationships or the death of someone mentioned in the existing will.

While there is some ability to fix wills that don't deal with assets appropriately through the courts, that ability is very limited, very expensive and time consuming.

The distress to family members and others that can be caused by an out-of-date wiill is well illustrated by the Wilkinson case. The most common reason for failing to make a will is apathy, followed by people thinking they have nothing to leave. But a will is essential even for those without expensive assets if they want their wishes to be put into effect after they die.

A simple but effective will should cost no more than $150, a cheap price to pay for peace of mind. Give us a call at Harris Tate to get that underway. Don't put it off any longer.