Creating Your Own Last Will and Testament
March 31st, 2009 Filed under: ab trust,Executor Fees,sample wills,Trusts attorney — Estate Planning AuthorThere are many aspects to consider if you are thinking about writing your own last will and testament. If you don’t have a will and are thinking about creating one, this guide should help you in making the decision to do it yourself or to enlist professional help. Don’t let your goal of saving money be the deciding factor! That could be a penny wise and pound foolish decision.The reason to have a will is to create a legal document that will be used to pass along your personal property and financial assets after your death. If you have a complicated portfolio of assets and other financial instruments then creating a will is a more complicated matter. A proper estate plan in this instance will likely require more legal instruments (ex: trusts) than just a will. This is a clear case to use professional estate planning help.
Before you begin to write your own will you need to create a list of all of your personal property and all of your financial resources. This list should include everything from you most sentimental possession to all of your outstanding personal IOUs. Creating this list can be a daunting task but getting it all together up front will help the rest of the process go smoothly.After the preparation step it is time to create the core of your will. This should be a specific yet high level list of each item and who you want to receive it. Having groups or categories of items is fine as long as there isn’t any ambiguity as to items or your intended recipients. It may be a good idea to talk to your hears while you are writing your will to get their feedback on what is really special to them and what isn’t.
Do you have children? Establishing guardianship is a critical part of your will in case you are the sole provider or if you and your spouse both perish at the same time. This step is not something that is written down and forgotten about. Talk to all parties involved and make sure that everybody is both suited and willing to take on the responsibilities of raising your children of you aren’t around to do so.
The benefits of writing your own will are many. The first is that you will direct the process to achieve the outcome that you desire. You will become intimately familiar with your state’s laws, your assets and the people and institutions that you designate as heirs. You will also save some money in the process, but the fees you might pay a professional are minor in the grand scheme of things so this shouldn’t be the major factor in writing your own will.The nightmare scenario of writing your own will is that you will make a mistake that will render your will null and void. There isn’t way to correct this if it happens after you have passed away. Another concern about doing it yourself is that it might not ever get completed. If you are concerned about the legal requirements or find yourself stuck only part of the way through writing your will take the steps necessary to get professional help.
Is writing your own will a reasonable thing to do? It certainly is and has been done by many people without any problems. It really comes down to doing the research necessary to really understand the rules and requirements to craft a valid will in your state. If you are willing to spend the time, you can create a valid will and enjoy the process. If you are daunted by the task of doing it yourself don’t hesitate to engage the help of a professional estate lawyer. They can make the process fairly quick and painless and you should come out of the process with a solution that is well tailored to your specific needs.
Cindy writes articles about writing a will and various personal finance topics at Texas Wills.
