Writing your Last Will & Testament

This article is not going to be your typical run-through of how you go about writing a will, in fact when I came up with the idea of this article I was actually thinking of certain films where a person will give their last word's on a recorded 'Will' or give a run through of their lives. It's a bit of a morbid subject to write about but I've been thinking a lot about death recently and I thought it might be interesting to write a little justification of my life so far, I am only 26(27 next month), however I like to get things off my chest.

A lot of people have this theory that life is all about what you have done to enjoy yourself while you are alive so you have no regrets when you die, however I don't think life is all about material items & what you can achieve through physical pleasure. To me life is about acquiring knowledge and learning as much as possible, learning truths whether they are hard things to learn or painful they will lead to enlightenment in the end.

As usual I have included my list of pictures which take time in themselves to find, i think these pictures were good for describing how I feel about death, since my Granddad past away 3 weeks ago I have been wondering what its like on the other side, and I do believe their is something beautiful to be welcomed by.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidanmorgan/3072704794/

Maybe we can all learn something from the photo above which shows a sun-like star that has died and released the energy from its hot core, we can see there is something beautiful to be seen when the end comes.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2940659385/

I thought the above photograph was humorous and I know I won't go out like that guy, sat around wondering what could of been! I think black and white photographs are particularly good for illustrating this article, a lot of the one's I have used have a antique charm about them, suitable for talking about things that will be in my past.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2980051095/

When it comes time for you to write your last will make sure you include these following things, it may seem a little paranoid but you will feel more at peace if you know you 'went out fighting', when I say that I mean you don't want someone you don't like defying your wishes.

• You must clearly state yourself as the maker of the will, the modern day title to be declared on the document is 'Last Will & Testament' and is used as clarification during publication.
• You must state that you withdraw previous wills and codicils. If you do not do this, any new will you make will only show that there are small inconsistencies but these may be important to you and overlooked.
  
• You must prove that you are in good mental state to dispose of your property and do so at your own command.
• You must have two independent witnesses who are not beneficiaries that will be present when you sign and date the will.
• The maker of the will's signature must be placed at the end of the document. If this is present then any other text that is added underneath this will be ignored, if the maker of the will was to write anything underneath the signature it would defeat the purpose of their intentions.

Home made will's are fine for legal will writing, although they can come under contest so it is always best to refer to a will writing company or search for will writing services. I only found one other article on Hubpages about 'How to write will', I thought my approach is different in the sense I am getting people to at least think about it even if they aren't searching for it. Most people don't realize that it is something they need, it is something like a summary of what impact your life has made to those around you. Many famous people passed on without leaving a will, examples are Kurt Cobain, Martin Luther King, Barry White and Tupac Shakur.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2890281482/

Back to my original intentions of this article, I think when I decide to write my will I will have gained enough valuables that I will want to leave to my immediate family, I hope to have one son hopefully in my early 30's. The explanation for the photo above is a metaphorical one, I have always been a hard worker, very strong spirited (likened to a horse) and I will achieve what I want out of life. Its ironic that I actually noticed TerryGI wrote a thread last night mentioning he would like to leave all his Hubpages urls & AdSense passwords to his children in his will, this is something I will probably do myself now because of reading that.

I started off maybe a little naive in life, thinking that seeking justice was what would ultimately achieve happiness for me, along the way I have seen that you have to look after your own interests a lot of the time. I have recently caught up on enjoying myself over the last 4 years, bending some rules, which has resulted in thrills and the hindsight which made pursuing my dreams worthwhile.

I also came to the conclusion that no one can lay your life out in a straight line for you, especially if you have your own theories which are different to friends and family, you have to trust your instincts and wisdom. Sorry if I'm digressing from the original subject but my writing is often creative and I believe everything here is related to the subject matter, my regular reader's will appreciate the philosophy behind this I believe.

Above Photo courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2949780889_286cc20ca1.jpg

I chose the above photograph because I am skeptical about the whole 'seeing the light' theory which is prevalent in many world cultures, but it is a nice thought and no-one really knows what will happen when you pass on. I like the way the lit arches could represent your life flashing before your eyes as the ghostly figure passes through and the temple shapes representing an ascension to another plain. Once again I apologize for the digressing and maybe the weirdness of this article but I have worked hard on it so I believe it may be of interest to some of my fans.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicjeep/70077042/

I found the next two images on Flickr, they represent death and another passion of mine, 'street art'.  Maybe you would call the above 'scrawling', I agree it is rather abstract and it was obviously scratched into wet cement? I couldn't tell you, all I know is it is in Shinbashi station, Tokyo, it even looks likes something from the anime film 'spirited away'.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/heiwa4126/336041122/

I've wandered well away from the subject of wills but I am still on the topic of death and I still have these last two images to write about, I chose the above one because it included a ghostly figure and the 'street art' as mentioned before. I suppose the subject of the painting also reflects death having a nuclear blast and a powerful message, I guess these are the things I like to associate with death because they still have an element of 'creation' within them.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/calistan/4022455227/

Finally, I have included two Musician's, one is a poet and is from Swansea, Wales and the video by Frank Sinatra is maybe the song I want played at my funeral.

The poet Dylan Thomas is from wales just like me and is famous for many great poems such as Fern Hill & The Hunchback in the Park, he also wrote a collection of stories 'Under Milk' and 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog'. Here is an exert of what Dylan Thomas wrote about death:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Above Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/mesaj/2578433125/in/photostream/