October 24, 2022
Estate Planning
· Personal Family Lawyer
What Does a Will Do Anyway?
If you have already prepared your will, congratulations! Too few Americans have taken this key first step in the estate planning process. In fact, only 33% of Americans have created their will, according to Caring.com’s 2022 Wills and Estate Planning Study.
While having a will is important – all adults over age 18 should have this document in place – it’s just one small part of an effective estate plan that works to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, let’s look at exactly what having a will in place will do for you and your loved ones in terms of estate planning.
If you have yet to create your will, or you haven’t reviewed your existing will recently, contact us to get this vital first step in your estate planning handled right away.
WHAT A WILL DOES
A will is a legal document that outlines your final wishes in regards to how your assets should be distributed to your surviving family members. Here are some of the things having a will in place allows you to do:
1. Choose how assets are divided upon your death: A will’s primary purpose is to allow you to designate how you want your assets divided among your surviving loved ones upon your death. If you die without a will, state law governs how your assets are distributed, which may or may not be in line with your wishes.
However, a will only covers assets owned solely in your name. Other types of assets, such as those with a beneficiary designation or that are co-owned, are not affected by your will.
2. Name an executor: In your will, you can name the person(s) you want to serve as your executor, sometimes called a “personal representative.” Following your death, your executor is responsible for wrapping up your final affairs. This includes numerous responsibilities, such as filing your will with the local probate court, locating and managing all of your assets, paying off any debts you have outstanding, filing and paying your final income taxes and distributing your remaining assets to your named beneficiaries.
3. Name guardians for your minor children: If you’re the parent of minor children, it’s possible to name legal guardians for them in your will. However, doing this in your will alone is risky, and doing so may even leave your kids vulnerable to being taken into the care of strangers if something happens to you. This is true even if you’ve worked with another lawyer to create your will, because most lawyers haven’t studied and been trained on what’s necessary for ensuring the well-being and care of minor children.
To ensure your children remain protected, we offer a comprehensive system known as the Kids Protection Plan®, which is included with every estate plan we prepare for families with young children. While you should meet with us to put the full Kids Protection Plan® in place as soon as possible, protecting your children is such a critical and urgent issue, we’ve created a totally free website, where you can get your plan started right now.
If you’ve yet to take any action, visit this 100% FREE website, where you can take the first steps to create legal documents naming long-term guardians for your children. This will help to ensure that should anything happen to you prior to creating your estate plan, your kids would be cared for by the people you would want in the way you would want. Get started here now: https://kidsprotectionplan.com/
If you have already named long-term guardians in your will – either on your own or with a lawyer – we can review your existing documents to see whether you have made any of the six common mistakes that could leave your kids at risk. If needed, we’ll revise your plan to ensure your children are fully protected.
4. Serve as a backup for a living trust: Because it can be difficult to transfer the legal title to every single one of your assets into a revocable living trust before your death, most trusts are combined with what’s known as a “pour-over” will. This type of will serves as a backup to a living trust, so all assets not held by the trust upon your death are transferred, or “poured,” into your trust through the probate process.
A Small—But Important—First Step
Having a will in place gives you a limited amount of power over the distribution of certain assets, but that doesn’t mean you should go without one. Without a will, your assets will be distributed by state law, which rarely results in your desired outcome.
See your will as an important first step in the estate planning process—one that works best when integrated with a variety of other legal vehicles, such as trusts, powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives.
