Can you make a will for another** person where they are the main beneficiary?

Particularly as people live longer, it is becoming increasingly prevalent that the instructions for someone’s will are provided by a close friend or relative who themselves will be the primary (and in some instance, only) person to benefit under the will.

In order to ensure that the will is not later successfully challenged or held to be invalid, there are a number of critical steps required.

While each situation will depend on the exact circumstances, generally the following steps should be taken:

1. a specialist lawyer should ideally be responsible for preparing the estate planning documentation;
2. to the extent possible, that lawyer should tolerance test the integrity of the instructions being received directly with the will maker and without the intermediary being present;
3. if the lawyer has an ongoing client relationship with the intermediary, then thought should be given to ensuring that the will maker obtains some form of independent legal advice;
4. if there is any concern in relation to the capacity of the will maker (for example, due to age or mental capabilities), specialist medical advice should also be obtained at the time of signing the documentation; and
5. comprehensive meeting notes should be prepared in relation to all interactions on the file, ensuring that they are in a format that could be provided to, for example, a court if the will is ultimately challenged.

** For the trainspotters, the title of today's post is riffed from the Coldplay song 'Another’s arms'.

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