Plan For The Future Today

Ensuring that you are able to live in your own home, providing for your health care needs, maintaining your lifestyle in retirement, ensuring a family business passes to your heirs and providing care for minor children or children with special needs are just some examples of why having a last will and testament is so important. Proper estate planning is a sure way of maintaining your dignity and the dignity of your loved ones. This guide seeks to answer the question: “Do I need a will?” It briefly describes what a will may include, and what happens if you were to pass away die without one. It also goes on to describe several other tools, including powers of attorney, power of attorney for health care (health care proxies) and advanced directives for health care (living wills). As you read through its contents, please contact us with any questions you may have.

Do I Need a Will?

For most everyone, the answer is yes. If you should pass away without a will, your assets will be disposed of based on the intestate laws of the state in which you live. Intestacy means that your control of your assets are determined by law under the direction of a Court, usually a Surrogate’s Court. While judges are generally fair, each state provides very strong presumptions which a court must enforce and which presumptions may have nothing, or little, to do with your actual wishes. The more comprehensive a will is, and whether or not it is correctly and clearly drafted and executed, can determine whether or not your actual wishes are implemented following your death. Amongst other things, a will can contain wishes concerning how your remains will be handled after death, and the appointment of an executor and successors that you choose to handle your estate. Your will can also appoint trustees to administer trusts that your will may create specifically to handle the inheritances for your family, minor children until ty reach adulthood or certain ages, and the special needs of a loved one with disability. A will may even contain provisions to minimize state and/or federal estate taxes.

Getting Started With A Will

Before you draft your own will or seek an attorney’s assistance, you should gather all the information you can about assets you now own, that you now have control over, that you share ownership and control over with others, and that you might soon own or control in the future. Often, you may not be sure about an asset or its control, so make a note of these assets anyway. Assets often are real estate, personal property (such as furniture, cars, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, business equipment, corporate assets, and other tangible things), stocks, bonds, insurance policies, and cash. Control means that you have some say in how those assets are used. Assets soon to be owned or controlled usually include inheritances, marriage gifts, and business revenue. Assets also include pensions, rights to buy out business interests, and options to buy or sell anything. All of this information will be helpful when considering how your will should be drafted.

Do I Need An Attorney To Create A Will?

While it is not required that you use an attorney to draft your will, it is highly recommended, especially for more complicated estates or when there are minor children or family members with disabilities involved. When choosing an attorney, you should select one who is experienced in the areas of estate planning, estate taxes, trusts, probate and administration. Bring all the documentation you assembled to the attorney and expect to answer questions as to what you really want to happen to your assets when you die or become incapacitated.

A will and the other estate planning tools discussed in this guide can help provide you with peace of mind that your affairs will be handled in accordance with your wishes, and not the wishes of third parties or a judge whom you may have never met.

These instruments are relatively inexpensive if they are professionally drafted and they are absolutely priceless if needed. Proper estate planning can help you and your family avoid long, drawn-out legal battles over your estate and ensure the implementation of your personal wishes concerning a variety of factors, from your health care to the selection of guardians for minor children, even to caring for children with special needs.

Having these documents for use is vital should you no longer be able to “speak” to your own needs or wishes and are otherwise forced to rely on others who may or may not have your best interests in mind. With the complexity of today’s legal environment governing these matters, advance planning is now more important than ever and is best handled by experienced attorneys.