Can getArrange.com generate Joint / Mutual / Mirror Wills?

TLDR version: No / No / Kind of Yes.

Joint Will / Mutual Wills

Joint Will / Mutual Wills are Wills that are made between a few parties (e.g. couples) in such a way that each party can no longer change or revoke their own Will without the consent of the other party.

A Joint Will is drafted as a single Will while Mutual Wills are drafted as separate Wills which are also binding to each other (e.g. by an agreement that each party cannot revoke their own Wills without the other party's consent).

Think of an example where a couple (A & B) wants it such that if either of them dies, the assets will go to the other surviving couple and eventually when the other couple dies as well, they want their remaining assets to be donated to charity. However, since both A & B do not know who will die first and do not entirely trust the surviving party to donate to charity upon death, they may consider making a Joint Will / Mutual Wills so that both parties cannot change their Wills without the other party's consent. Such Will(s) works like a contract which binds how the assets will subsequently be dealt with and both A & B are "legally binded" to follow the instructions in the said Will(s).

HOWEVER, there are several issues regarding Joint Will / Mutual Wills:

  • It requires the consent of ALL parties to alter the Will(s) subsequently.
  • It may bring about complications down the line after one party passes on and the surviving party wishes to change their Will for good reasons.
  • Even though either party cannot change or revoke their own Will without the other party's consent, it does not stop the surviving party from just spending away all the wealth or giving away the money such that the Joint Will / Mutual Will takes little to no effect.
getArrange.com explicitly DOES NOT provide Joint Will / Mutual Wills due to the various possible complications down the line. There are also a number of law firms who explicitly do NOT provide such services for the same reasons.

Mirror Wills

Mirror Wills are individual (separate) Wills made by two people, often containing similar terms. It does not require agreement from the other party for the Will to be made. Additionally, both parties can individually (without the consent of the other) alter their own Wills regardless whether the other party is alive / dead.

While there is no specific function to draft Mirror Wills on getArrange.com, Mirror Wills are essentially two separate individual Wills which do not (legally) affect each other. Either Testator can change / alter their Will without consideration of the other Testator. If you and the other party would like to have Mirror Wills, simply draft two separate individual Wills for the two individual Testators accordingly. Please note that charges apply individually as well.
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