199 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
199 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
culture
|
|
tvandradio
|
|
bbc
|
|
8253467
|
|
-----
|
|
# Gerry Robinson: 'A will is a bit like having a pre-nup'
|
|
|
|
## In a BBC Two series, the business guru gives advice on how to write your
|
|
will. By Sam Richards.
|
|
|
|
![Gerry Robinson investigates the problems created by dividing up a person's
|
|
possessions after they die][1]
|
|
|
|
Gerry Robinson investigates the problems created by dividing up a person's
|
|
possessions after they die Photo: BBC
|
|
|
|
By Sam Richards 6:38PM GMT 11 Jan 2011
|
|
|
|
[Comments][2]
|
|
|
|
Imagine that you're run down and killed by the Number 6 bus tomorrow. It might
|
|
be rather a morbid scenario but it's not beyond the realm of possibility, and
|
|
it's worth considering. Because if you die suddenly without having drawn up a
|
|
will, you could be bequeathing a legacy of hurt and confusion to your family.
|
|
|
|
That's the message Sir Gerry Robinson is hoping to get across in his new
|
|
programme Can't Take It with You (BBC Two, Friday). Last time we saw Robinson
|
|
on our screens, he was troubleshooting small businesses in Gerry's Big
|
|
Decision (Channel 4, 2009). Many of them were family-run firms where financial
|
|
difficulties were entangled with emotional ones, and Robinson often found
|
|
himself acting more as a marriage counsellor than a business advisor. From
|
|
there, it was a short step to making a series where personal feelings were
|
|
paramount.
|
|
|
|
"Writing a will is not really about the process of getting it down in black
|
|
and white, it's about dealing with emotional issues within families, which is
|
|
absolutely bloody difficult," says Robinson, who was shocked to discover that
|
|
70 per cent of Britons haven't made any provision for what should happen to
|
|
their assets when they pass on.
|
|
|
|
"If you don't leave a will, it's a flaming mess for whoever's left behind," he
|
|
says. So why do so few of us have them? "Partly we don't like facing up to the
|
|
reality of our own death. But mostly it's to do with the fact that you have to
|
|
address the emotional complications of the various people involved."
|
|
|
|
Whether you're a multi-millionaire like Robinson himself or have barely a
|
|
penny to your name, he insists the issues are the same. "It's not about the
|
|
amount, it's about making sure that what you leave behind feels right for
|
|
those who are receiving it. You can get pretty hurt by the fact that, you
|
|
know, she got the silver spoons and you only got the glasses. The content of a
|
|
will often comes as a total surprise to the surviving family members, and then
|
|
there's nobody to go to. If you sort it out when you're still alive, you have
|
|
the chance to explain."
|
|
|
|
## Related Articles
|
|
|
|
* [Can't Take it With You, BBC2, preview][3]
|
|
|
|
14 Jan 2011
|
|
|
|
* [Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care Homes? BBC One, Review][4]
|
|
|
|
09 Dec 2009
|
|
|
|
* [Interview: Sir Gerry Robinson][5]
|
|
|
|
16 Jul 2009
|
|
|
|
* [State of care homes in Britain are 'appalling' says Sir Gerry
|
|
Robinson][6]
|
|
|
|
28 Nov 2009
|
|
|
|
In Can't Take It with You, couples drawing up their wills are encouraged to
|
|
gather their family and friends together to discuss the reasoning behind who
|
|
gets what - a potentially thorny problem when children from a previous
|
|
marriage are involved. Robinson himself has two children from his first
|
|
marriage and two with his current wife, so did he face a dilemma when updating
|
|
his own will recently?
|
|
|
|
"I really did, but what you have to do is talk about it. I decided to
|
|
stipulate that if I die before my wife, my children from the first marriage
|
|
will get something automatically. Because however good the relationship is
|
|
[between my wife and my children from my first marriage], I just want to be
|
|
sure. And that's a difficult subject, because it raises issues of trust - it's
|
|
a bit like having a pre-nup. But in the end we all agreed that it seemed like
|
|
the sensible thing to do."
|
|
|
|
One organisation unlikely to get anything in Robinson's will is the Labour
|
|
Party. Once a high-profile donor, he removed his financial backing when Gordon
|
|
Brown became leader. Now Brown's gone, would Robinson consider contributing
|
|
again? "Actually I live in Ireland now, so I wouldn't donate to a UK party
|
|
anyway," he smiles, expertly dodging the question. "I was pretty clear about
|
|
Gordon: he's a decent man, but he wasn't the right person to lead the Labour
|
|
party and he certainly wasn't the right person to be prime minister."
|
|
|
|
So what does he think about the current incumbents of Downing Street? "In some
|
|
odd way I think the coalition will probably work. There's a balance and a
|
|
tension within the ruling group that means it will have to operate fairly."
|
|
|
|
For Robinson, politics means finding efficient systems rather than coming up
|
|
with headline-grabbing policies. "Good management is about box-ticking, it's
|
|
about follow-up. In a way, getting something to work well is pretty bloody
|
|
dull." You might, of course, say the same about drawing up a will - but that
|
|
doesn't make it any less important.
|
|
|
|
- 'Can't Take It with You' begins on Friday on BBC Two at 9.00pm
|
|
|
|
[X][7] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][8]
|
|
|
|
* Share: [Share][7] [ ][9] [ ][10]
|
|
|
|
[Tweet][11]
|
|
|
|
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8253467/Gerry-Robinson-A
|
|
-will-is-a-bit-like-having-a-pre-nup.html
|
|
|
|
Telegraph
|
|
|
|
## [BBC][12]
|
|
|
|
* ### [TV and Radio »][13]
|
|
|
|
In culture
|
|
|
|
[![Paul Merton presents the Birth of Hollywood][14] ][15]
|
|
|
|
### [Today's TV highlights][15]
|
|
|
|
[![TV Guide][16]][17]
|
|
|
|
### [TV Guide UK: searchable TV listings][17]
|
|
|
|
[![][18] ][19]
|
|
|
|
### [Doctor Who - the top ten best Doctors][19]
|
|
|
|
[![][20] ][21]
|
|
|
|
### [Britain's Got Talent: where are they now?][21]
|
|
|
|
[![][22] ][23]
|
|
|
|
### [Doctor Who - the top ten baddies][23]
|
|
|
|
[X][7] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][8]
|
|
|
|
Share:
|
|
|
|
* [ ][7]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][9]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][10]
|
|
|
|
* [Tweet][11]
|
|
|
|
* Advertisement
|
|
|
|
![][24]
|
|
|
|
telegraphuk
|
|
|
|
Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][25] [blog
|
|
comments powered by Disqus][26]
|
|
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
sponsored features
|
|
|
|
Loading
|
|
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
Classified Advertising
|
|
|
|
* [RHS Chelsea][27]
|
|
|
|
* [Culture][28]
|
|
|
|
* [Fine Arts][29]
|
|
|
|
Loading
|
|
|
|
var puffs_8120641 = new Array();
|
|
|