Any recommendations on where to go for drafting a will in Taiwan, in English, that would be legal anywhere else in the world?
I had a will, power of attorney, and a trust set up when I was back home (USA). I suggest you wait until your next trip home to do the same. Then bring your copy back and show it to a lawyer here and ask him to draft one in Chinese that says EXACTLY THE SAME THING!
Believe me, I’d rather do that… but this is more because anyone can die quite suddenly of SARS and it’s best to have a will in that case.
I will ignore that ridiculous comment.
I used to have to deal with probates and such and can tell you that aside from the plethora of information you should be able to gleen from that Internet thing, making a valid will is easy.
You really only need to have at least three people attest to your signature of the document.
Here is one for the Philippines, but it is the same as in the States (you might want to change the Catholic part 
)
http://www.pinoylaw.com/forms/will.htm
This is the stripped-down version and you can add whatever items you wish – what you want to give Muffy your cat, for instance.
You don’t need to get it signed in front of a Notary Public, but make sure that the people attesting are “findable.”
That will be 250 guanxi in legal fees… 
If I die here, I want to donate my corpse to the crocodiles at Taibei zoo. Any chance?
Try just jumping into the croc pit.
I have thought about this myself on many a low point, of which there were, and continue to be, many. My ex-wife came up with this one:
“Please, if it’s not already there, please place this corpse into the nearest skip”.
However, since I am now blessed with a global perspective having lived in “Chayee” for the past six months, I now realise that that my previous will was far too localised – my local ash-cart boys: Roddy, Colin (that English prick), Huult (not bad for a Norwegian), and Raymond would’ve dumped me in the harbour anyway. Thus saving my wife three hundred pounds in cemetry fees each year.
Please let me know, original poster, how you get on, because I am very interested in a will that will remain effective in Taiwan.
Thank you
Dunc
This joint does pretty well back home, and I noticed their was a non-Aussie link there too. legalwills.com.au/index.asp
But why pay $34.95 when you can get a free will at the following link:
freelegalforms.net/index.cfm … m17716.htm
They’ve got a searchable database with lots of free legal forms at:
Of course, you get what you pay for. Contrary to public opinion, attorneys can and do provide a valuable service. By relying solely on free legal forms one could easily miss an important issue. For instance, for many people a will is not the best way to go, as division of the decedent’s property must be handled through “probate” which is a court-supervised process taht takes time and costs money. Instead, by holding bank accounts, real estate and other property jointly, title to the property automatically transfers to the other owner upon death. There are many other such issues. While the law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the key issue with wills, as noted above, is that a certain number of competent witnesses must observe you signing the will and must sign the will also.
Thanks all for the URLs… I expect I’ll settle on a solution after looking through them.
Wolf: You mightn’t be afraid of SARS, but when I might not be able to avoid it and it does kill, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared. What are Guanxi$ used for anyway?
Big Dunc: It’s a pain, but if you plan on living in different countries, I suppose you might have to update your will accordingly. Did you manage to find anyone in Chiayi to leave anything to? There’re no people in Chiayi. That’s what I tell my mom anyway.
Mother Theresa: Good point. I’d prefer to consult a legal person myself, but preferably someone who understands the ramifications of belongings strewn across more than 1 country.
Taiwan’s Civil Code, Book V Succession, Chpt III, Wills stipulates that five different types of wills are acceptable in Taiwan. These include the holographic (self-written) will, notarial will, secret will, dictated will and the oral will. The basic requirements for each (except the oral will) of these are as follows:
Holographic Will:
The testator must himself write the entire text of the will, indicating the complete date and sign the same. If any amendment or deletion is subsequently made by the testator, he must sign an additional note at the place of the amendment or deletion and indicate the number of words in the amendment/deletion. A handwriting expert will need to verify the signature of the testator on the will.
Notarial Will
Testator must designate at least two (2) witnesses and make an oral statement of his testamentary wishes before a notary public. The statement must be written down, read over and explained by the notary public, and after the testator has given approval, the will must be signed by the testator and the witnesses, with the complete date indicated. If the testator for any reason cannot sign his name, the notary must record the reason for this inability and make an imprint of the testator’s finger print where his signature would otherwise be made.
Secret Will
Testator must, after signing the will, have the same securely sealed within an envelope and then sign his name again across the seam of the envelope seal, designate at least two (2) witnesses and declare before a notary public that the document inside the envelope is his will, and if not written by himself, also declare the name and address of the third party who drafted the will. The notary public must indicate on the envelope the date on which the will was brought to her and the declaration of the testator and sign the envelope together with the testator and the witnesses.
Dictated Will
The testator must designate at least three (3) witnesses, make an oral statement of his testamentary wishes, have the same written down, and have the statement read over and explained by one of the witnesses. After the testator approves the will, the complete date is indicated on the will and the name of the witness who wrote the will is indicated as well. The will must then be signed by the testator and all three witnesses.
The oral will is used when the testataor is in imminent danger of dying and unable to make any of the other above-types of wills. If the testator, within three (3) months of the date of an oral will regains the ability to make another will, the oral will becomes null and void.
Looks like loads of useful info posted. Sorry to divert from the original posters’ question, but I read - I think in ‘Culture Shock: Taiwan’ - before I came here that Taiwanese people don’t generally make wills because of the superstition and fear surrounding death. Is that true, in anyone’s experience? Is the part of the Civil Code above written just in case someone might want to make a will sometime, or is it actually fairly common?
Its not as common here in Taiwan as it is back in the States. Can’t speak for Ireland, the UK or the European continent.
I know that my grandmother, 100% Irish immigrant, would never write a will because she thought that by doing so she would bring on her own demise sooner rather than later.
One interesting bit of Taiwan trivia concerning wills: in Taiwan the beneficiaries can inherit debts as well as assets. In the US, if someone dies and left you everything in his/her will you inherit the assets. If the person died in debt you inherit nothing and the creditors lose out. But in Taiwan if a person dies in debt the creditors can collect from the beneficiaries. So there’s a certain time period for the potential beneficiaries to calculate the value of the estate and decide whether or not to renounce any interest in the estate.
It’s a Chinese thing not to invite misfortune if you can help it.
Don’t buy insurance, don’t make a will, don’t look when there’s a wake or funeral going on.
Someone once told me not to leave pairs of footwear lying neatly about, so as not to invite spirits to wear them. Ditto leaving a TV on with no one watching.
What are the requirements for drawing up a will here in Taiwan.
Who has to witness it.
Can you do it yourself, or must a solicitor do it.
Does it need to be filed somewhere.
Are they even legally binding in a Taiwanese court.
Need to do something about this, but have absolutely no idea as to the requirements here.
Taiwan’s Civil Code, Book V Succession, Chpt III, Wills stipulates that five different types of wills are acceptable in Taiwan. These include the holographic (self-written) will, notarial will, secret will, dictated will and the oral will. The basic requirements for each (except the oral will) of these are as follows:
Holographic Will:
The testator must himself write the entire text of the will, indicating the complete date and sign the same. If any amendment or deletion is subsequently made by the testator, he must sign an additional note at the place of the amendment or deletion and indicate the number of words in the amendment/deletion. A handwriting expert will need to verify the signature of the testator on the will.
Notarial Will
Testator must designate at least two (2) witnesses and make an oral statement of his testamentary wishes before a notary public. The statement must be written down, read over and explained by the notary public, and after the testator has given approval, the will must be signed by the testator and the witnesses, with the complete date indicated. If the testator for any reason cannot sign his name, the notary must record the reason for this inability and make an imprint of the testator’s finger print where his signature would otherwise be made.
Secret Will
Testator must, after signing the will, have the same securely sealed within an envelope and then sign his name again across the seam of the envelope seal, designate at least two (2) witnesses and declare before a notary public that the document inside the envelope is his will, and if not written by himself, also declare the name and address of the third party who drafted the will. The notary public must indicate on the envelope the date on which the will was brought to her and the declaration of the testator and sign the envelope together with the testator and the witnesses.
Dictated Will
The testator must designate at least three (3) witnesses, make an oral statement of his testamentary wishes, have the same written down, and have the statement read over and explained by one of the witnesses. After the testator approves the will, the complete date is indicated on the will and the name of the witness who wrote the will is indicated as well. The will must then be signed by the testator and all three witnesses.
The oral will is used when the testataor is in imminent danger of dying and unable to make any of the other above-types of wills. If the testator, within three (3) months of the date of an oral will regains the ability to make another will, the oral will becomes null and void.
I don’t know the requirements for a will in Taiwan, but I do know that a will is often NOT the best way to have ones assets passed on after one dies. In the US anyway, distribution of assets according to a will has to go through probate, which is a court supervised process that takes a lot of time and money. Opening joint accounts, holding properties jointly and establishing a trust are just a few ways to handle the process more quickly, cheaply and with less chance of unwanted challenges by greedy relatives. So, before making out a will, make sure that’s what you want to do.
In the US, for many people it is prudent to speak with an estate-planning attorney about the subject. In Taiwan I don’t believe there are any estate-planning attorneys, given that Chinese people don’t like to talk about death and few attorneys here are experienced enough to have such a specialty. And even if you found someone who claimed to handle such matters here I’d definitely seek second and third opinions, given that legal work here tends to be pretty shoddy – except when performed by foreigners ; -)
Edit: I wrote my post before TM posted. I’m glad he gave you answers to your questions : -)
TM, can wills be in English language or must they be in Chinese, if chinese can they be dual language, due to family commitments the will would also need to be lodged in the UK, and would want both to be identical.
I don’t see why the will could not be written in both Chinese and English. The will would, I think, need to state that it was written in both languages and then the translations would need to be certified.
I’ll check on this. However, seeing as we frequently handle estate matters involving foreign decedents with Taiwanese heirs, where the will or other succession document is written in English, I don’t see this being a major problem.