Rod Genders is a senior Australian lawyer specialising in Wills and Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration, Trusts and Guardianship and Inheritance Claims and Contested Estates in South Australia. His boutique specialist law firm, which was founded on 1848, is one of the oldest and most respected in Australia. Rod is an international author and speaker. Rod is the 3rd generation of Genders in the law and has been practising specialised law since the mid 80’s. For over 10 years he served on the Council of the Law Society of South Australia and is a senior member of its Succession Law Committee. For 8 years Rod was a founding committee member of the South Australian branch of the London-based Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and was the founding Chair of the international STEP Digital Assets Special Interest Group. For over 25 years Rod has chaired a private committee enquiring into the affairs of protected persons. He is a member of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the Notaries Society of South Australia and an associate member of the American Bar Association.
Here’s another in our series of articles about Weird Wills, Problematic Probates and Disturbing Deaths. If you’re twisted like us, you might get a chuckle out of some of the strange stuff people do at the end of their time on this mortal coil …
1. I say Hello and you say Goodbye
Anthony Scott, in his last will and testament wrote: ‘To my first wife Sue, whom I always promised to mention in my will. Hello Sue!’
2. Proper Conditions
The last will and testament of Edith S of Walsall included £50,000 to each of her children, Roger, Helen and Patricia. Their inheritance was not to be spent on ‘slow horses and fast women and only a very small amount on booze’.
Even though death is a serious subject, our most popular series continues for your morbid enjoyment. This time we’ve collected some macabre stories of people finding ways to die that might provoke a chuckle.
#1 Too much sex and Viagra, makes Jack a dead boy
Sergey Tuganov made a bet with two female acquaintances in 2009 that he could continue to satisfy them sexually for 12 hours straight. They took the bet, and a wild night began. In order to be sure he would win, Sergey downed a whole bottle of Viagra pills before he set to work.
The Wills of famous celebrities can teach us some valuable lessons about what NOT to do….
… because our last posts Weird Probate Issues and More Weird Probate issues were so popular, we have decided to create an entire series …
The Bottom Line – Some people are determined to have their final say in their strange Last Wills and Testaments. Have a smile at their attempts to ‘rule from beyond the grave’.
… because our last posts Weird Probate Issues and More Weird Probate issues were so popular, we have decided to create an entire series …
1. Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk is the founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the organization that tries to keep humans from eating, wearing or being mean to animals. When Newkirk passes on, she instructs that her corpse be given over to PETA, and then things get weird.
Famous Last Words – Some people try to tell you that “you can’t take it with you,” but that doesn’t mean you have to go quietly into the night. A vital part of pre-death planning is composing a Last Will and Testament that clearly lays out who gets your stuff and your money. But some people also use them as a final “screw you” to the world. These people were determined to have their final say, with their strange Last Wills and Testaments.
… because our last posts Weird Probate Issues and More Weird Probate issues were so popular, we have decided to create an entire series …
Another year has passed and 2018 is already here. The New Year is a time of optimism and noble resolutions to quit bad habits, get organised, pay off debt and save money. It’s a good time to take a look at your estate plan to make sure it is in place and up to date.
Your estate planning documents determine who will receive your property when you die, and also determine who has the right to make financial and major medical decisions during your lifetime. Getting your estate plan right will save money and heartbreak for you and your family.
Less than half of adult Australians have any estate planning documents in place and many of those people may have outdated documents. Documents that were created when you first got married or when your children were born may need updating years later, after your family and financial situation have changed entirely.
A long time ago (1983 actually), Sean Connery came out of 007 retirement to make an unofficial James Bond movie called Never Say Never Again. In one scene he pretends to be a masseur at a health spa, and suggestively says to Kim Basinger: “Hard or soft … massage?”
This movie-line must have stuck in my brain all these years, because it suddenly seemed like a good way to highlight some important considerations in modern integrated estate planning – Hard or soft … estate plan?
What is the Softer Side of Your Estate Plan?
Identify, document and share your wishes for end-of-life care, the care of your pets, the custodianship of your special assets, who your carers will be, where will you live if you lose your independence, and more.
Dementia deaths in Australia have steadily increased over recent years. In 2013, dementia became Australia’s second leading cause of death, overtaking cerebrovascular diseases (strokes) for the first time.
In 2014 and 2015 the number of dementia deaths have continued to rise.
Ischaemic heart disease has been the leading cause of death in Australia since early in the 20th century, but while the rate of death from heart disease was at its worst around 1970, it has steadily declined since then.
Dementia is not one specific disease. There are many types, including Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia, which are each collections of symptoms caused by disorders affecting the brain, with severe effects on thinking, behaviour and quality of life. These diseases add greatly to the burden of illness and injury in the Australian community.
Medical science is keeping us alive for longer than ever before, and the Australian population is ageing fast. Dementia already affects approximately 160 000 Australians.
Dementia affects about 10% of those aged over 65 years, and 20% of those over 80 years suffer from severe dementia. Frighteningly, Alzheimer’s Australia says we can expect a 300% increase in the numbers of dementia patients in the next 30 years.
Senior Australian lawyer Rod Genders discusses how mental health affects a person’s legal capacity to make decisions in their own best interests.
Making a Will is a serious business, right? It details how you wish your estate to be distributed, who benefits and by how much.
… because our last post Weird Probate Issues was so popular, here we go again …
But we can still chuckle at the efforts of other people when they outrageously stuff-up their own estate plans. (We’ll suppress our schadenfreude with the thought that this is all educational. ‘Schadenfreude’ is the German term for the guilty pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune.)
