What Is a Mirror Will?
A Mirror Will is a pair of Wills by a couple, usually spouses, partners, or life partners. These Wills are identical, with each party nominating the other as the main beneficiary. They may include specific gifts such as donations to charities or other bequests but the overall structure is the same, with each partner nominating the other as the main beneficiary. For example, Partner A leaves everything to Partner B and vice versa.
To be true Mirror Wills they also need to have the same plan for the estate if both partners die in a common event. Commonly this is for the estate to go to their children.
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Mirror Wills vs Mutual Wills
Mirror Wills are different from Mutual Wills. Mirror Wills can be changed at any time by either partner, Mutual Wills have legal agreements that prevent any changes after the death of the first partner. Mutual Wills are used to protect the initial intention of inheritance, for example to ensure an estate goes to children and not to any new partners that may come along later. This is a rare setup but is used to prevent children from a previous marriage being overlooked by a surviving spouse who remarries.
A better way to prevent children being disinherited in these situations is to set up a lifetime interest trust. This trust allows the surviving spouse to benefit from the estate during their lifetime and the estate to go to the children upon their death.
Joint Wills
A Joint Will is another type of testamentary document that tries to accommodate the wishes of two people in one document. Popular in the past due to shared ownership of property, Joint Wills are now largely outdated. Today individual ownership and rights require separate Wills for each person even within a marriage, ensuring that each person’s entire estate is managed according to their wishes. When the first spouse dies, the surviving spouse faces significant limitations on making changes to the Will.
Joint Wills can be messy if one partner wants to change or revoke their part of the Will. This complexity makes separate Wills for each person the preferred solution even if the distribution is the same. Additionally, a surviving spouse cannot include a new spouse or adjust beneficiaries to reflect changes in their life circumstances.
Types of Wills: An Overview
– Holographic Will: Handwritten entirely by the testator, these Wills are not recognized in South Africa as Wills must comply with specific formalities, including being signed in the presence of witnesses.
– Nuncupative Will: An oral Will made in extreme circumstances. These are not recognized in South Africa where written and witnessed documents are required.
In South Africa the Wills Act must be complied with which states that a Will must be in writing, signed by the testator at the end and witnessed by two people to be valid.
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When to use a Mirror Will for a Surviving Spouse?
Married couples with simple estate distribution plans may find Mirror Wills suitable. For example, they work well if both partners want to leave everything to each other and then to their children. This is practical and efficient if all children are between the partners and reduces complexity.
Although useful, Mirror Wills can lack flexibility for specific legacies or tailored plans, so you need to consider your individual circumstances and potential future changes.
The Simple Blended Family
Scenarios to avoid Mirror Wills
Mirror Wills may not be suitable for more complex family structures like blended families. In situations where partners have separate children, using a Mirror Will without additional provisions can unintentionally disinherit those children. Additionally, a surviving spouse cannot put money in a trust for an adult child who spends money recklessly.
A typical example is second marriages where each partner has children from previous relationships. Here one might name their spouse as their main beneficiary and an alternate plan if the spouse predeceases them. But this alternate plan only kicks in under certain circumstances and does not guarantee that the estate will go to the children if the surviving spouse remarries. This inability to modify the distribution can also prevent beneficiaries from receiving their inheritance sooner.
To avoid this risk consider lifetime trusts where the surviving partner can benefit from the estate during their lifetime and the remaining assets go to the children.
Cost of a Mirror Will
The cost to prepare a Last Will and Testament varies greatly. A lawyer will cost around R8,000 to R10,000 per Will, Mirror Wills are bundled at a discounted rate. Online services are a more affordable option, much cheaper and provides an efficient and comprehensive way of preparing legal documents.
Services like LegalWills.co.za provide a streamlined way to create Mirror Wills and save you time while ensuring the documents comply with local laws.
Write Your Own Mirror Will
Writing your own Will often leads to misconceptions about how difficult and legal it is. While some couples may consider a joint will, having two separate wills can offer more flexibility and clarity in estate planning. Anyone can write a Will but starting from a blank page without legal knowledge is impractical. Free templates will more likely result in errors or omissions that can leave your estate open to challenge.
Online services like LegalWills.co.za provide guided, interactive platforms like tax preparation software but for South Africa. These services provide step by step guidance to ensure compliance with the law and accuracy in your estate planning.
With LegalWills.co.za you can write your own Will but avoid the common mistakes of doing it without a professional. This interactive service will prevent errors and ensure a legal document.
Mirror Will with LegalWills.co.za
LegalWills.co.za makes creating a Mirror Will easy. After you have created the first Will, reflect on the specific information you want to transfer into the second Will. This step allows for precision and personalisation even if the basic plans are the same.
– Start by creating your main Will with LegalWills.co.za, follow their simple process.
– Once you have completed your Will, download, print and sign in the presence of two adult witnesses.
– To create the Mirror Will, log in, select the options and transfer the details to the second account.
This way you can have both customisation and speed to prepare your Mirror Will.
This will guide you through the process of exporting data from one account to another.
You can then select which elements from your Will you wish to move into the second account.
You can then either set up the second account, or if you already have the spousal account, you can just enter the information for an existing account.
This means that you can for example, move the names and birthdates of your grandchildren to your spouse’s Will, but you can each make your own charitable bequests if you wish.
The second account is then set up with the required information already entered into the service.
We claim that you can prepare a Will in 20 minutes using the service at LegalWills.co.za. But using our Mirror Will tool, you can create a second Will in half that time!
Get Started
Preparing your Will with LegalWills.co.za is easy. Their service will guide you through every step, so the details are in line with your wishes and comply with South African law. If you have any questions about any part of the process, their support team is available to help, free of charge.
He has over 20 years of experience helping people to write their Will and other estate planning documents. He has been interviewed by many of the major news media outlets and has contributed to articles in most leading publications. He has also contributed to a number of financial planning books.
Throughout his career, Tim has written extensively on the subject of Will writing and estate planning.
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