Tempting as it is to try and save money by writing a will yourself by downloading one of the many online templates or using a will kit, we do not recommend doing unless you have a good legal knowledge in this area and some lived experience. 

We do not recommend this for the following reasons:

• There are certain legal requirements when writing a will that must be strictly followed. If your will does not comply with these requirements it may be deemed invalid.

• It doesn’t matter how clever you are, lawyers have studied for years to do what they do and they should be able to do something like a will quickly and efficiently. Unless you are a lawyer yourself, you will not have this knowledge and experience.

• Getting it wrong can be costly longer-term to your family and whānau members. You can inadvertently cause tax problems in terms of specific assets and personal items you would like to gift to beneficiaries.

• There are issues such as taxation around Kiwisaver and Superannuation to be considered.

• It can get very complicated, particularly in blended families, of clearly recording who gets what and when in different family scenarios (e.g. one of three siblings dying leaving behind children, before you die).

• It takes a lot of your time and emotional energy to this by yourself.