Those famously drawled words by Val Kilmer’s terminally ill character Doc Holliday in Hollywood’s blockbuster Tombstone, are very fitting for present purposes.
Depending on our age and health, we all think we’re pretty bullet proof, despite irrefutable evidence that we’re all destined to end up the same way. Buying the farm. Pushing up daisies. Croaking. Pegging out. Sleeping with the fishes…
FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY
THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER
The truth is that we prefer to occupy our minds with less grim, more urgent, immediate, fun, thoughts:
• where are we going to live?
• where (and when) are we going to travel to?
• what’s our social / sporting / cultural
calendar shaping up like?
• what’s on this weekend?
• what’s on now?
The point? We’ve got so much going on now, and so much life ahead of us it’s virtually impossible to comprehend it ending any time soon.
Every so often there’s a reminder of our limited time on this planet. When someone close to us dies for example, it can be a telling and devastating eye opener, especially when they’re young. Out come the clichés – time is precious, make the most of it, don’t take it for granted. You get the picture.
All true. But for many of us these reminders only move the needle for a moment, and we inevitably shift back to the Oyster. We’re human. We’re optimistic. We’re consumers, and we’re back chasing down the new adventure, the new career, the new smart phone.
THE VALUE PROPOSITION
A while ago I caught a shuttle from the airport to my home in Airlie.
Business was obviously good for the bus
company – the seats were all full and I found
myself in the front passenger seat next to the
driver.
We chatted easily for the trip. She got to asking
me what I did. I told her.
Possibly out of politeness, she said she needed
a Will, and asked me what it might cost. I told
her it depended on some circumstances but
gave her some basic numbers and choices off
the cuff. She whistled a breath in through her
teeth, concluding it was too expensive.
It occurred to me my bus driver saw zero value
in doing something about a Will: whether it
was a grudge purchase or just an unsavoury
thought, she immediately went to a place
where she believed this service was of little or
no value to her.
I decided to push on a bit, not to win her over
but rather just to understand her viewpoint,
and given we’d established what felt like a
pretty honest and frank rapport over the last 20
kilometres she appeared to have no problem
with this.
First, we talked about choices – it really didn’t
matter to her which law firm she chose as the
market pretty much dictated cost, and she
felt like most firms had similar offerings. We
then talked about the growing self-service
market – she could most definitely buy a DIY
version online but DIY also meant DIY legal
research on your own time, and DIY your own
guarantee that you can get it right and it will
work out ok for your entire life’s net worth.
We then moved on to the value proposition,
and what I saw as the issue.
If someone’s net personal wealth on their
death might be substantial (say several
hundred thousand dollars), why does having
a Will professionally prepared for as little as a
few hundred dollars to protect it not represent
one of the very best investments a person (who
we’ve established is guaranteed to die) could
ever make?
At this point, my driver’s interest in exploring
the issue any further evaporated. Whether
my attempts to understand her point of view
veered into a lecture from a know-it-all (me),
or whether she was now deep in thought
following my ‘pearls of wisdom’, will remain
one of life’s mysteries. She just shrugged
and busied herself with the important task at
hand of ensuring a bus full of people were
delivered safely and on time to their respective
destinations.
We chatted and laughed a few more times and
then I hopped off.
THE DISCONNECT
I’d missed the opportunity to get my
message across just how important a Will
was, regardless of who did it. It became a
discussion on a dollar figure, and I don’t think
that’s right. That said, I’ve heard and seen that
perspective so often I was also left wondering if
I’m the one missing the point.
But, call me stubborn (get in line), I don’t think
I am missing the point. It comes down to this:
• is the thing (the Will) worth the spend?
• What is the value attaching to it for me (my
lifetime of assets and my family’s future);
• what are my loved ones risking if I do
nothing?
THE GUILT TRIP
The hardest thing for us as consumers is that
there’s no sugar hit, no instant gratification,
no ‘new-car feeling’ from doing a Will. In fact,
it’s a selfless gesture – we’re putting our family
members first. Beyond peace of mind, we’re
not getting any direct and personal benefit
from making a Will during our lifetime. Not
like a flat screen TV or some new clothes. Or
that new smart phone.
We’ll be dead.
Ultimately, there is no real argument that
making a Will is not worth it.
So if you are actually inclined to acknowledge
your own mortality and get a bit more info
on exploring making a Will, give us a call
obligation free. If not that’s ok too, but don’t
avoid getting one because you don’t see the
value. That’s frankly a cop out. It’s extremely
valuable and you owe it to yourself and your
loved ones to be as informed as you can be
and to get it organised.
Stuart Bell
PD law
