Keep It Simple – Sign A Last Will and Testament Drafted By A Professional!
Countless times, clients have told me they just want things kept “simple” if they die. Yet they never signed a Last Will and Testament. Why? It’s “too complicated.” And now a surviving widow wants to know why her husband’s family inherited her home. Simple: no planning – no Last a Will and Testament. One simple document could have changed the outcome.
Simple not to Plan, but Complex to Fix!
If a person dies without a Last Will & Testament, the law dictates what will occur, as a court cannot create a Will for a person who never signed one. The necessary legal procedures and legal red tape are not simple. The absence of a Last Will & Testament can certainly destroy that hoped-for “simplicity,” and cause great delay and expense. And “simply” putting everything in joint names can create more problems than you can count.
Tips to Keep It Simple
Call and set an appointment to discuss drafting a Last Will and Testament. First, select an Executor who you trust to follow your wishes and then select an alternate (as life is uncertain). Next, identify specific gifts and who you want to make gifts to at death (such as to grandchildren, charities, or friends). Unless you write special bequests into your Will, you cannot assume that those gifts will ever be given. If possible, consider if a bequest should be placed in a trust for minor children or grandchildren. You may want to protect that bequest if a beneficiary is young, has special needs and receives government benefits, or is in an adult in the midst of a divorce, a lawsuit, or has addictions or debtor-creditor problems.
Poor Planning = Anything but Simple.
There are many more consideration call Michele Blanchard with Airey Blanchard Law Office today for a free estate planning consultant 985-641-4010.