According to TheFreeDictionary.com, the idiom, “there’s no time like the present” dates back to 1562, and with the state of the world as it is, many people it seems, are scrambling to create Wills as soon as the present allows it.

Will planning requires honesty and is often regarded as an emotionally draining chore. While the drafting of a Will is, as the Romans would say, a Memento mori (a reminder of our mortality), it need not be a sad or troubling task. Planning for one’s estate can be much like the ultimate holiday shopping list. A Will allows us to make sure a treasured possession goes to the right person, and it ensures that our loved ones are provided for, in line with our wishes. Much like insurance, a Will can be thought of as preparing for the worst-case scenario. It can be thought of, particularly in times of strife, as a way to be of service to those people and organizations that we hold dear. “Yet,” as my grandmother would say, “there can always be a little room for whimsy.”

“To my nephew Phillip who wanted to be in the Will, “hello you’re in the Will.”

-Unknown

In a 2015 collection of the “Strangest Wills of All Time,” The Guardian UK compiled 10 Will provisions where, they said, “the temptation to cause mischief or raise a smile from beyond the grave was too much to resist.” Here are but two examples.

After legendary comedian Jack Benny died in 1974, his widow, Mary Livingstone had a single red rose delivered to her every day. She would later learn that Jack had provided for flowers in his will. “A single red rose, delivered to Ms. Livingstone, for the rest of her life.”

When Roger Brown of Whales died in 2013, he left his seven closest friends, friends of 40 years, a bequest of £3,500 with the proviso that they go on a European holiday,  and raise a glass together.

While a Last Will and Testament is a serious document that ought to be treated as such, it does not have to be a dreary and dark affair, where all we think about is death and endings.

It is, after all, but one more way to look out for each other.

Thanks for reading,

Suzana Popovic-Montag and Daniel Enright