A will may prevent disputes between your nearest and dearest

WILLS: Making a will is something many people put on the long finger, but it can prevent a host of problems about who gets what from your estate when you're gone. It also provides an opportunity to plan your own funeral, among other things.

If you're in good health and decades away from retirement age, making a will might not be top of your list of priorities. Signing your last will and testament can seem like a morbid task. But dying without one makes distributing your assets very complicated for those left behind.

"Years ago, people wouldn't make a will until they were dying," says Mr Brian Carroll, a solicitor who runs an online wills and probate service, www.wills.ie. "It was a kind of taboo, really. People felt that if you made a will, it would cause you to die, almost."

Superstition can be costly for surviving relatives and loved ones. If you die without making a will - called dying intestate - the law decides who inherits your estate. This can be fairly straightforward if you are married and have no children, as the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate.

But if there is a spouse and children, the spouse gets two-thirds of the estate, with one-third divided equally among the children. If any child has already died, then his or her children receive the share. If the children are minors, their share of the estate is automatically tied up in a trust.

This division of assets under intestacy rules can become especially awkward if the person who made the will - the testator - was the sole owner of the family home. An adult child might want to cash in their share of the estate, leading to rifts between parent and child, and the possible sale of the family home.

"In most happy marriages, that's not what someone would want," says Ms Susan O'Connell, a solicitor with expertise in wills at McCann Fitzgerald law firm. "They would want all of the estate to go to their husband or wife and presume that they would look after the children in their will."

Putting the property in both names prevents this kind of dispute, as it will then pass automatically to the surviving husband or wife. But the joint-names protection does not apply to non-married couples: if one partner dies intestate, the surviving partner has no automatic right to the other partner's share of a property or business.

"We have often seen it in cases where shares in houses go back to the parents or siblings of the person who has died, even when they are engaged to be married to their cohabiting partner," Ms O'Connell notes. "The surviving cohabitee has no rights."

But making a will is essential forward planning for more than just cohabiting couples: people with significant assets or young children should also formalise arrangements.

"For anyone with any family really, it's almost an obligation," says Mr Carroll, a practising solicitor in Fermoy and professor of law at University College Cork.

"People tend to say 'I always meant to do that' about making a will, and there's no excuse, there really isn't, for not making one," he says.

"Our logo says 'a lifetime secured in minutes', and that's what making a will does."

Since wills.ie was set up last October, more than 2,500 people have been prompted to make wills on the site, which offers a "standard" type of will free of charge. This allows the testator to leave the entire estate to one person. This person is also appointed the executor of the estate and is responsible for implementing the terms of the will.

A trust will, which costs €100 on wills.ie, allows parents to provide for minor children in the event of a common accident, appointing executors, guardians and trustees who will manage the estate until the child comes of age.

Most people like to add their own personal touches to a will, leaving "specific bequests" or gifts. It doesn't matter if there are no Ming vases or 24-carat gold rings stashed away - making a will is an opportunity to give items of sentimental value to loved ones. And as gloomy as it may sound, wills also offer people the chance to plan their own funeral - choosing music, readings, flowers and a final resting place.

"Maybe it's because of the way we structure the will, but I have been quite surprised by the number of people who want to be cremated and give special directions about where they want their ashes to be scattered," says Mr Carroll. "That's a new trend."

Although an estimated one-in-three Irish people die without leaving a will, Mr Carroll believes the idea that people who make wills early in life are tempting fate is fading away.

Anyone who is over the age of 18 and is of sound mind can make a will, which must be signed or marked in the presence of two people who are not beneficiaries under the will. A will can be changed or revoked at any time, as long as the person is still mentally competent.

A person who suffers from a mental disorder may be able to make a valid will during a lucid period if a doctor confirms that they are mentally competent at the time. If there is any doubt about the mental capacity of the person making the will, the person drafting it needs to make sure they are not acting under pressure or undue influence.

The sound-mind requirement is another reason why people should make a will early in life, even if it means they have to revisit it throughout their lives as circumstances change. Leaving it too late may result in your will becoming open to challenge after your death.

It may also be important to appoint someone, usually your next of kin or a close relative, to control your affairs later in life. This is called enduring power of attorney. It only takes effect in the event that you become mentally incapable of looking after your affairs, either financial, related to personal care or both.

"We generally recommend people making wills to appoint an enduring power of attorney. It's important for elderly people but it has to be made at a stage when you still have mental capacity," says Ms O'Connell.

In order for enduring power of attorney to be used, doctors must certify that the person has lost their mental capability. The appointed person must register the enduring power of attorney with the Office of Wards of Court. They must also give notice to two people, usually other close relatives, that they are doing so.

"Before the enduring power of attorney was introduced, people who lost their mental capacity were made a ward of court, and that can sometimes be a distressing process for families," says Ms O'Connell.

But if failing to appoint a power of attorney or write a will can cause difficulties for surviving relatives, even the most organised people cannot prevent family tensions erupting after their death.

Under a will, spouses are legally entitled to one-third of the estate, or one-half if there are no children. But children have no automatic right under a will to inherit any share of the estate, unless they can prove to the court that the parent failed in their proper duty to support them.

"Sometimes in cases where there are second relationships, the children of the first marriage may not be among the beneficiaries, and quite often it is these disappointed children who will make a claim," says Ms O'Connell.

"Only a small percentage of wills are contested but, as life becomes more complicated, it's going to happen more and more."