September 2018

I am sometimes instructed by a married couple that they want to create “mutual wills”. Generally I shudder at the thought and suggest that really what they might be after are “mirror-image” or reciprocal wills and then I proceed to explain the difference. I have only had one set of clients execute mutual wills after the proffered explanation, so I am led to the conclusion that there is widespread misunderstanding of the term. While there may be occasions for using a mutual will, in my professional opinion, they will be few and far between.

With a surprising degree of frequency I meet with clients to initiate the probate process many years after the death of a loved one. Often the catalyst is an attempt to sell a piece of real estate, at which time they learn that they have no authority to sell because dad’s estate or grandma’s estate was never probated. As many Bermudian families try hard to keep properties within the family, and as many families have a number of pieces of real estate, it can be years before this discovery is made. Then, the whole sale process comes to a grinding halt.