Will

Will is a document that ensures your wishes with respect to your assets and property are followed after your death. Problems and complications arise when a person dies interstate i.e. without leaving a Will behind.

Do not thus put off writing a Will since it can put the survivors behind you in great predicament after you.

Definitions:

A Will is defined as “The legal declaration of the intention of the testator, with respect to his property, which he desires to be carried into effect after his death.” In other words, a Will or a Testament means a document made by a person whereby he disposes of his property, but such disposal comes into effect only after the death of the testator.



Codicil is an instrument made in relation to a Will, explaining, altering or adding to its dispositions and is deemed to be a part of the Will.

Executor is the legal representative for all purposes of a deceased person and all the property of a testator vests in him.

Legatee/Beneficiary is a person who inherits the property under a Will.

Probate is a copy of the Will, duly certified under the Seal of a competent Court.

Testator is a person making a Will and executing it.



Essential features:
The documents purporting to be a Will or a testament must be executed by a person legally competent to make it;

Every person, capable of making a Will must be:

o not a minor;
o of sound mind;
o free from fraud, coercion or undue influence;



The declaration should relate to disposition of the property of the person making the Will;

The declaration as regards the disposal of the property must be intended to take effect after his death;

The Will must be properly signed and witnessed;

It must be initialled by the testator at the end of every page and next to any correction/alteration;

There are no language restrictions on writing of a Will. A Will can be written in any language, the words, however, should be clear and unambiguous so that the intention of the testator is reflected in his Will.

Stamp Duty
No Stamp duty is required to be paid for execution of a Will or a Codicil.

Attestation and Registration:
A Will must be attested by two witnesses, who must witness the testator executing the Will. The witnesses should sign in the presence of each other and in the presence of the testator;

Registration
It is not mandatory for a Will to be registered.

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Plain English and modern legal drafting - Part - 1

Part 1: What is plain English—really?

All legal writing should be appropriate for its audience—it should speak to the reader in words, sentences, and forms the intended reader can understand. Thus, transactional legal writing—legal drafting—should be appropriate for its audience: the parties to the transaction and, if they are represented by counsel, their lawyers. But in many transactions, particularly consumer transactions, the parties are not represented by counsel. The transactions are between nonlawyers without counsel or between a sophisticated party, who dictates the terms, and a nonlawyer consumer. Those nonlawyer consumers need plain English. To meet their needs, I offer this broad description of plain-English legal drafting:

Plain English is a form of English that can be read and understand by the typical nonlawyer.
Here are some specific traits of plain-English legal drafting:

Plain English all but forbids insider jargon, legal Latin, and archaic words.
Plain English strictly limits terms of art and always defines them in plain English.
Plain English sometimes requires more words and sentences than traditional legal drafting—to define terms of art and to explain complex subject matter.
Plain English also values brevity and concision—sometimes even at the expense of content.
Plain English often uses the first- and second-person pronouns you and we.
Plain English uses contractions.
Plain English often uses bullet lists, question-and-answer formatting, lots of headings, and document summaries.
Plain English uses shorter-than-average sentences and paragraphs.
For example, here’s a plain-English provision from a form produced by the Texas Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner:

If I don’t pay an entire payment within 10 days after it’s due, you can charge me a late charge. The late charge will be 5% of the scheduled payment.
That’s plain. But ask yourself if that tone and style are appropriate for a complex, multi-million-dollar transaction between large corporations represented by counsel.

Source:"http://blogs.utexas.edu/legalwriting/

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BLOG.LEGALWRITING.NET: The alleged poor writing skills of law students--Schiess's view

Image source: www.amazon.com 

The alleged poor writing skills of law students--Schiess's view

"Law students' writing skills are poor."

When a non-legal-writing law professor says this, I think it isn't true. Instead, here are the most likely explanations:

The professor is exaggerating the weaknesses of all students or extrapolating the weaknesses of a few students to all students.
We all do this, don't we? And the older we get the more we do it, yes?
The professor has unrealistic expectations of law students' writing skills because the professor has forgotten professor's own level of writing skill when the professor was a student.
I'm guilty of this, practicing lawyers are guilty of this, and certainly law professors are guilty of this.
The professor isn't equipped to reliably assess what is or is not good writing.
Law professors write law-review articles. The writing in law reviews is generally awful, but that's a generalization. Perhaps the writing of this particular, complaining professor is a true exception to the generally awful writing in law reviews. Maybe, but maybe not. Read it and see. And always remember that the articles the professor publishes are selected and edited not by peers but by students.
The professor is failing to communicate to students the professor's own expectations about writing.
No course--certainly not the first-year legal-writing course--teaches students how to write a timed essay exam. Poor writing perceived there can at least partly be blamed on the professor's failure to communicate expectations.
No course that I know of--certainly not the first-year legal-writing course--teaches students how to write a seminar paper. Poor writing perceived there can at least partly be blamed on the professor's failure to communicate expectations.

Source:"http://blog.legalwriting.net/2009/08/03/the-alleged-poor-writing-skills-of-law-studentsschiesss-view.aspx

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