Making a Will in New Zealand – 5 Great Options from Free, Cheap, DIY to Expensive

What will happen when you die? What if you split with your partner? Why should you make a will? Do you even need one? We check out the key issues and options in Making a Will, including the easiest, and cheapest ways to make your own will. We even include a new free DIY Will kit option!

Do you need a lawyer to draw up a will?

Don’t you need a lawyer to draw up a Will? What a great question!

The easy answer to this is simply ‘no’. There are so many different options now for making your own will, or a DIY will, that there’s almost no reason to go to a lawyer.

However, here’s two good reasons why you might want to consider paying a lawyer to draw up a will. The first is if you’re getting other legal work done, and they offer you a free will. A good example is getting conveyancing work done when you buy or sell a house. If it’s free, you should take it!

The second is when your estate (or the stuff you own) is very complicated, or you’re involved in a number of Trusts, or own shares in a number of legal entities. If your affairs are very complicated you may consider a lawyer to ‘cross all the t’s for you’.

Other than that, just take control, and make a will yourself. The following DIY options are all valid ways to make your own will:

1. Get a free will done online
2. Buy a ‘do-it-yourself-will’ online
3. Buy the do-it-yourself NZ Will Kit
4. Contact Public Trust for help
5. Contract a lawyer to draw up a will

Do you even need to make a Will?

Do you even need a will? This is an important question to ask too, and the answer will be a personal decision. In our opinion, if you have a family then you absolutely should make a will.

Have you decided how you want your property and possessions to be distributed if you were to die? Have you thought about who should take care of your children? If you own a home, have you thought about how the mortgage would get paid? If you have step-children, or your kids are grown and have kids of their own, have you thought about how your assets would be divided?

Your “Will” provides your written instructions about what to do with your estate when you die, how you want your dependents (partner and/or children) to be cared for; and what parts of your estate will go to which beneficiaries.

Why is it important to incur the effort and expense of a Will? Well, this is one of the most important documents that you’ll ever create and sign.

If you die ‘intestate’ (this a legal term that means you died without a Will in place), then the Administration Act specifies how your estate will be distributed after your death, which may not be as you truly wished, or even would have expected. Family and friends may then experience significant frustration, stress, delay and costs, especially in the event of a legal claim against your estate.

This isn’t something you would want your family to suffer, while they are grieving.

If you have possessions, property and dependents, then you should make a Will. You should also revise your Will on any significant life change — getting married, divorced, moving in with a partner, or having more children. At a bare minimum, it is wise to revise your will every 5 years.

How to Make a Will

Asking a close ‘friend’ to just write out a Will for you is probably not the best idea! Having a lawyer create a Will for you can be a very expensive experience (although for some families this is a necessary option, see more below).

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And somewhere between the nose-bleed-inducing legal option and the we-really-don’t-recommend-this ‘Homer Simpson’ version lies the DIY Will. This option should get you a legally binding Will for under $50, and possibly even for free, and is definitely the option we recommend.

There’s several different options available for making your own Will, depending on how much you want to spend, and how complicated your finances are. Here’s 5 options for making your own Will:

1. Get a free will done online

2. Buy a ‘do-it-yourself-will’ online

2. Buy the do-it-yourself NZ Will Kit

3. Contact Public Trust for help

4. Contract a lawyer to draw up a Will

Each have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on your own unique situation. But for 90% of families, we recommend the DIY Will option. It will save you time and money. And you can literally get it done right now.

1. Get a free will done online

This is an entirely new option in New Zealand. One of the online will kit providers, not the one we usually recommend, has come out with a free will kit option for Kiwis. We haven’t used their site before, so we can’t 100% recommend this option. But they are a really trusted online legal brand. So if you’re just looking for a super-straight forward, no frills, done and dusted option. Check out this free online will option at LawDepot.com

2. Buy a ‘do-it-yourself-will’ online

An online do-it-yourself Will is by far the most popular way of getting a straightforward will done quickly and cheaply. The Wills you buy online are simple to fill in and legally accurate. Best of all though online Wills cost about 10 times less than using a lawyer. This is definitely our recommended way of making a will. The best, and cheapest, option in New Zealand by far is DIY Wills.

3. Contact Public Trust for help

Public Trust can assist you in making a will online or in person, starting from just $69. You can also name them as executor or your will, or ask them to help your chosen executor carry out their tasks. Find out more at Public Trust online. This is a really good option for people that don’t know where to start, and perhaps have a more complex set of assets to work with. It’s more expensive but also very thorough.

4. Contract a lawyer to draw up a Will

If you choose this option, you do need to understand that this will be, by far, the most expensive way to draw up a will. However, for some families (eg. those with managed Trusts, blended families, families with businesses, or large financial interests, and those with international assets, or other complicated financial affairs) the protection afforded by a lawyer will be well worth the expense. For this option, make sure you take with you:

• A detailed list of all your property (including land, houses, furniture, jewellery, bank accounts, shares, and life assurance policies)
• A list of full names, ages and addresses of the people who make up your family
• A detailed list of people and charities you wish to leave property to
• Any trust deed or relationship property agreement you’ve made
• Name of the ‘executor’ (a responsible and trustworthy person)
• Decisions regarding payment of liabilities (mortgages, debts, overdrafts)
• Name of the preferred guardian(s) of your children under 18 years
• Name of a trusted and responsible person who will assume ‘enduring powers of attorney’ to manage your care and your property in the event you become incapacitated through illness or accident.

For more information on making a will, check out the New Zealand Law Society’s Guide or contact the Public Trust on 0800 371 471 for a free copy of their Wills & Enduring Powers of Attorney Know How Guide.

For more expert advice on protecting your assets, check out our Family Finances section.