TRUSTEE’S ADVICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 770, 17 September 1929, Page 14

TRUSTEE’S ADVICE

“MAKE YOUR WILL EARLY’’ TALK TO BUSINESS MEN “A man should not regard his will as the ultimate document of his life,” said Mr. R. F. Ward, until recently District Public Trustee, and now manager of the Guardian Trust and Executors’ Company, in a talk on “Building Safely,” at the Auckland Creditmen’s Club’s luncheon today. “His will is really the most important document a man is ever called upon to sign,” said Mr. Ward. “It should be made out when health and faculties are good, and reviewed from time to time as circumstances change.” Many mfen who are particular about ordinary business documents omit to take legal advice on private subjects of this type, and, as a result, the executors often have to call on the courts to interpret involved clauses. Directions for administering are seldom sufficiently explicit, and smaller points, such as provision for payment of death duties, are overlooked.. Many businessmen, too, forget to keep records of loans or debts of a private nature, and consequently unexpected claims are made upon their estates. The amount of administration of this type now carried on by the State is growing enormously, according to Mr. Ward. In the past, every man appointed a friend to look after his family, but now business has become too involved. People are realising that although personal interest must be lacking to a large extent, corporations are not necessarily “soul-less business institutions.”