Everyone wants a "simple will" drawn up.

Even the simplest of wills however requires some thought put into it.

Case in point: 

Years ago, a family approached me wanting to get their wills done. 

As is typical for many Singaporean families back in the day, the head of the family had the typical male solebreadwinner role, while his nearly illiterate wife managed the household and their children.  

Eventally, as the head of the family was getting on in years, the children were worried one or more of their more aggressive siblings would try to force the elderly wife to give them money or assets, once the head of the family had died.  

There was a certain air of helplessness about the whole situation, in that it felt like a foregone conclusion that once the father was gone, the children would start fighting over the estate, regardless of what the will said.

Here is where it turned interesting.

Unlike most matrimonial homes, the parents' house was owned by the husband alone.

After establishing that the elderly wife was not used to managing her own finances at all, and might be easily forced into doing things that she did not want after her husband's death, I suggested that instead of the husband giving her the entire house in his will, he merely give her the right to live there after his death, for as long as she lived.  The house would eventually go to the children in equal shares after she died.  He accepted my advice and the will was drafted accordingly. 

While this seemed cruel and in a way unfair - it is after all par for the course for spouses to inherit after death - it turned out to be the right thing to do, if I say so myself.  

After the gentleman died, some of the more enterprising children, being blissfully unaware of the contents of his will, swarmed their mother with gifts and charm, thinking to get the house for themselves.   When this failed, and they became aware of the contents of the father's will, they turned nasty and started verbally abusing her.  To add to the issues, she developed dementia. 

While the elderly wife was eventually removed from the home to prevent further abuse, to my mind, the husband's will, which skipped over giving legal title of the house to the wife, helped prevent further legal tussles from happening.  Had the wife been in a position to give away the house, there would undoubtedly have been a land grab, and then a lengthy court battle to prevent or reverse that would have been required.

So, before you convince yourself that all you need is a simple will, give some thought as to what is really going to happen after you die, and consult a lawyer!