I have just watched Richard Eyre’s King Lear on the BBC and if you missed it, it’s on the BBC iPlayer for a further 28 days. It’s a mesmerising slice of television at its very best. I’m not always a fan of updated Shakespeare but this show, complete with Range Rovers, helicopters and smooth, wealthy but power crazed individuals brought us right up to date. Its context was the diet of ordinary everyday 21st century TV drama. It is also complete with a fight on the side of a road and a meeting of down and outs in a sterile 70s shopping alley. The star studded cast led by Anthony Hopkins, now himself 80 years old, were in my view sensational.

Lear is the story of a dysfunctional family which descends into chaos after the unwise divvying out of the assets of an elderly gentleman, passed his prime and probably suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer’s. To a law firm used to dealing with the misfortune of individuals making unwise testamentary dispositions, this sounds all too familiar. The outcomes and the ensuing violence may be a bit over the top, but the personal venom and ill will of one human being to another are all too common and a phenomenon of everyday family life. The sad thing is that it doesn’t need to be this way.

Just recently I seem to have dealt with a spate of conflicts arising from administration of estates where siblings have fallen out big time. There is perhaps no worse time for families than coping with the death of parents. There are so many different potential sources of conflict to do with the family home (to be sold off or not), the treasured possessions, decisions about funerals and disposal of assets and all this against a background of grief and loss. Fallings out can last a lifetime and go very deep.

From a legal perspective, it makes a huge difference if before death, the parents have planned properly for what will happen thereafter. If the wills are comprehensive and anticipate problems that are likely to occur from their knowledge of their family it helps. Even if family members are not entirely happy with what they have been left in a will and who has been appointed executors, clear instructions are difficult to overturn and in the end have to be accepted. This is a good start for coping with the tensions that can so easily arise. Sometimes the firm is appointed executor to help distance a diverse family from some of the decision making in dealing with an estate.

Making wills and powers of attorney is not a simple task. Taking time to think through the issues and decide what is appropriate is time consuming and, for some, emotionally draining. This is why talking to a legal professional about your needs will give you peace of mind. As we all live a great deal longer now than in the time of Shakespeare, Lasting Powers of Attorney are also a good idea as the risk of deteriorating mental capacity is all the greater too. Lasting powers can also deal with issues to do with our attitude to medical support of living when we are close to death, another modern day problem not an issue in Elizabethan times.

Yes families are families with all the blessings and heartbreaks that they bring; but taking unnecessary risks with what may happen when we are no longer around is unforgiveable. This is one job we should never put off. We spend a long time building up wealth and assets to help the next generation. William Shakespeare himself took time out to write his own will; it is incumbent on us to do the same. Richard Eyre, in his wonderful production of King Lear, made real the fraught issues of passing of assets to the next generation and the frightening consequences of deteriorating mental health that goes with old age. It’s a lesson we all need to take to heart.