A living will is a written instruction that details your wishes about medical treatment in future circumstances when you might not be able to make informed decisions or give your consent. To create a living will, you must be over the age of medical consent and sound of mind.
Having a living will in place spares your loved ones from making life-or-death decisions like whether or not you want to remain on life support, for example. It will also let you have a say in specific medical procedures and organ donation. A living will can also reduce the financial burden on the family if you should ever be on life-support, especially when there is no reasonable chance of recovery. While it might seem heartless to put a price on life, there medical bills could be devastating for many families.
A living cannot state your instructions or directives for euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide. You are entitled to request for specific treatments to be withheld or withdrawn, but you cannot ask a doctor to end your life
Offshore Will
As a South African resident, your estate is comprised of all your assets, irrespective of where they are located around the world. However, managing a deceased estate across various jurisdictions if you only have a South African will is often complex, time consuming and expensive.
To streamline this process, avoid unexpected tax implications and unique inheritance rules, specialist offshore estate planning is vital. Similarly, getting expert advice about different tax regimes when drafting your will or structuring your estate, so that you can do so as tax efficiently as possible, is critical.
As a foreign investor, you can consider various estate planning options:
- foreign wills
- offshore trusts and companies
- offshore investment wrappers