My Will

[Stacbear12]

First post sorry for any typos , I am going to see my lawyer tomorrow to sort my will and get my things in order. Nothing serious as such but getting older and just want everything in order , I live abroad and my kids DD moving abroad soon also different country from me and DS lives in UK with partner. Is it normal practise for lawyers to want passport/birth certificate of my kids ( both adults ) for my will etc as I hadn’t heard this before, I left a message but won’t hear back now until I see them just found this strange but first time sorting all this so unsure if the norm.

Assuming your children are the benefactors, it maybe a strategy to prevent fraud by having copies of their ID on file. It maybe required by local law if the benefactors live in another country. When you receive your draft copy of the will, I recommend sending a copy to each benefactor with some instructions on last wishes, and also advice on how to do probate in the country where you are based at the moment. As someone who recently did probate for a relative, it is helpful to put a list of your assets with deeds, and bank accounts/ bonds/ pensions etc in writing so it would be available to anyone having to administrate your will. I can tell you that the job of executor is hell on earth in complicated estates where the person has many (unclear) assets in different places. It took me about 8 months to find them all, and then another six months to process tax/ bank/ pension/ probate court paperwork.