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A will is a legal document that allows you to set out who you want your possessions to go to in the event of your death. In order for your Will to be legally valid, the law sets out certain legal requirements in relation to the wording, witnessing and signing of wills that must be complied with. If you don’t comply with these rules, then your will could be invalid.
You can make a Will if you have attained the age of 18, or are married, or are in the army or navy, and are of sound disposing mind.
The simple answer is yes. A will allows you to decide how your property will be divided after your death by means of a clear legal document. It allows you to provide for your family, relatives and friends in a meaningful way. It also allows you to provide for the special needs of family members and, in some cases, reduce tax. If you were to die without making a will the rules of intestacy would apply to determine who would receive your property. This may result in your property being divided in way that you would not have wished for.
The simple answer is now. No matter how young or old you are, you will undoubtedly have some valuable or sentimental possessions which you would like to give to certain people. To ensure your wishes are carried out, you need to make a Will. If you don’t make a Will, the laws of intestacy will dictate how your possessions are divided, and you wishes will not be taken into account.
As an added benefit, by having a will and letting your family know your wishes, you’ll help reduce the difficulties that your family might experience when winding up your affairs.
If you don’t make a will, the law will determine how your assets are distributed among your ‘heirs’ and even who looks after any children you have.
The law doesn’t take your wishes into account. Your possessions will be distributed in accordance with strict rules and perhaps not to the people you would have liked to benefit.
Similarly, the court will appoint the people who it believes are best placed to care for your children as their guardians. These may not be people you would have approved of. The court will, however, have full regard to any nominations you make in your will. So, it’s very important to name guardians in your will.
The first thing to do is make a full list of all your assets and liabilities. Secondly, and most importantly, you should carefully choose the persons whom you wish to act as executors of your Will. Finally, you need to decide whom you would like to benefit under your Will. You will need to consider the age, position in life, financial means etc. of the proposed beneficiaries.
This really depends on the complexity of your will. If you are leaving everything to one person, and you have no other dependants or family members, particularly from previous marriages, your will could be very simple and quick to create, perhaps taking just a few minutes.
Alternatively, if you wish to make a variety of gifts, the process will require a great deal more thought and consideration, and as such takes longer.
However, the whole process should take no longer than 15 minutes.
No, not always. ‘Home-made’ wills runs the risk of being value and not making sense, or not having been validly signed and witnessed. Even in the simplest of situations, its easy to be vague and leave room for doubt or misinterpretation. If there is doubt as to your intentions, the court may render a potential gift under your will void for uncertainty.
If you are going to prepare a home-made will, then make sure to use services such as DocuDraft. We ensure our will forms are clear, up-to-date and legal. We also go to great lengths to ensure we give clear and precise instructions on how to complete your will, and how to sign it and have it witnesses. Better still, we have an expert team here to help you if you need assistance. We’re pretty sure Google doesn’t give you access to a real live estate planning team 🙂
This is an extremely important decision as the role of executor is often unpaid and the duties that go with the role are often demanding.
It is important that the executor is someone you know and trust, and has a reasonable knowledge of your affairs. This is to avoid the possibility of assets going un-traced and beneficiaries losing out.
People often choose family members as executor since they tend to have a very detailed and intimate knowledge of the will maker’s affairs. Many people also appoint their lawyer as a second executor since their lawyer will also often have information about their affairs and will be able to provide assistance and advice to the other executor when dealing with probate.
Beneficiaries are often appointed as executors.
Generally speaking, executors should be trustworthy and capable, and you should have confidence in their ability to carry out your wishes as expressed in your Will. They should also have a thorough knowledge of your affairs or be able to form that knowledge by reviewing papers and asking questions.
If you make a gift to a minor under your will, your executor may also be asked to act as a trustee of that gift until the minor reaches the age of majority in their estate or such other age at which he or she can inherit the gift. Of course, executors and trustees can be different people – but often the same persons perform both roles.
It’s also a good idea to appoint a second executor to covers a situation where one of your executors is unable or unwilling to perform the role. Same applies to the appointment of alternate executors.
For more information, read our article: Should You Be an Executor of a Will?
Yes, if you have children under the age of majority, then you should appoint a guardian. You should do this even if your spouse or partner, or their other parent, is still alive. You never know what’s around the corner – so it’s best to be prepared.
A guardian should be someone you know and trust to raise your children, someone who will instil the correct values in your children and ensure they tend to their education. More importantly, it should be someone who is going to love and care for your children in the way you would want.
Once you make a will, it’s sensible to review it every two to three years This is because your personal circumstances are always changing and you will need to take account of those changes in your will from time to time. Assets are acquired and disposed of, people die, relationships change, and so on.
You should bear in mind that marriage or the birth of a child can severely alter the legal position or validity of your will. So, it’s worth updating it when a major life event like that happens.
It is not necessary to revoke your will in order to record a change of intention. A simple document known as a ‘Codicil’ can be executed which will record any alteration without the need to change your existing will.
It is imperative that your will is kept in a safe place and, where possible, in a fire proof safe. Your executors should be provided with details of its whereabouts so that it can be easily located in the event of your death. Courts tend not to ordinary admit copies of wills to probate, so it’s best to keep the original safe.
A Living Will is a legal document that allows you to instruct healthcare providers regarding the use or non-use of certain life-prolonging medical procedures in the event that you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious and unable to communicate your own wishes.
For more information, read our article: What is a Living Will?
To make a living will, a person must first be able to understand the purpose for which he is creating the living will and the effect of the living will document he is about to sign. This is the same standard of mental capacity that applies to the making of wills and other contracts.
In order to ensure that a person has sufficient mental capacity to understand the import of the document he is signing, the state imposes minimum requirements on those who can make living wills. For example, the law generally requires that a person must first reach the age of 18 years before they can make a living will or other advance healthcare directive. There are, however, two important exceptions to the above requirements. Firstly, in the states of Alabama and Nebraska a person must be at least 19 year old before they can make a living will. Secondly, Nebraska allows a person under the age of 19 years to make a living will if they are married.
For more information, read our article: Who can Prepare a Living Will?
As a general rule, living wills only come into effect if you’re no longer able to make your own healthcare decisions. For example, if you suffer serious brain damage in an accident or suffer an incapacitating stroke, you may be permanently unconscious and unable to communicate your wishes to your doctor. In this case, a living will lets your doctor know your wishes concerning the receipt or non-receipt of certain medical procedures.
The law in the majority of states, and indeed the terms of most living wills, require that one or in some cases two doctors must first personally examine you and agree that you are terminally ill or in a permanent state of unconsciousness before the terms of your living will can be applied. If the doctor or doctors agree that this is the case, then the medical procedures may be withdrawn or applied, depending on the choices expressed in your living will.
For more information, read our article: How Living Wills Work
The simple answer to this question is “No, you normally don’t need a lawyer to help you make a Living Will”. However, if you are someone that is not comfortable in preparing your own legal documents or simply don’t understand what Living Wills are all about then you should contact an attorney who will be able to prepare a tailored Living Will for you. Alternately, use one of DocuDraft’s products or services.
For those of you that feel confident enough to prepare your own legal documents, making a Living Will can be relatively straight forward. There are numerous self-help legal books on the market which can adequately help you make a Living Will. These books typically give you background information on Living Wills and examples of Living Wills. In fact, many books contain the state approved versions of Living Wills. These are Living Will forms that have been specifically drawn up by the legislator of a state for use in that state. In the majority of cases, these state Living Will forms are offered as samples of the type of Living Will forms that can be used in a state rather than saying that this is the type of Living Will form that must be used.
In addition, there are also a number of websites offering online Living Wills. Online Living Wills are simply Living Wills that can be created online through the use of an interactive online question and answer process. You simply answer some questions about what you would like in your Living Will and the software program prepares a Living Will that suits your specific circumstances.
If you would like to learn more about Living Wills, we have included a number of articles on this website which cover the basic questions asked about Living Wills. Feel free to read them and let us know if you have any more questions. Remember, every good estate plan includes a Living Will!
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