A last will and testament outlines what to do in the case of
someone’s passing. The last will and testament is referred to as
such because it overwrites any will previously written. When
someone passes away, the most recent will they wrote is taken
to be their final will. It is important to have a last will and
testament. People who have a large amount of assets know that
a last will and testament needs to be written. Even if you do not
have a large amount of property or wealth, you need to have a
last will for one very simple reason – it will result in a much
easier time for your loved ones.
This is because it is very easy to dispute the inheritance if there
isn’t a proper will in existence. Having a last will and testament
is important to ensure your loved ones will not have to face
legal issues while they are coping with losing a loved one. It is
important to write a last will and testament that is legally void
and applicable. When it comes to legal documents it is always
recommended to either use a professional or follow a template
properly. Our last will and testament templates have been
professionally written to ensure that they are legally
enforceable.
The People Involved in a Last Will and
Testament
The last will is a document that details the desire of the person
who has passed away but it needs more people to be legally
enforceable. The people who need to exist for the last will to be
enforceable are:
The Executor
The Beneficiary
The Witness
The Executor
An executor is the person who is responsible for ensuring that
your will is executed. This is a person who you trust; someone
who has the authority to make your wishes come true in the
best possible way. You can choose a family member to be the
executor but you might run into problems if you do. If the
executor does not appear to be working in the best interests of
the beneficiaries the will can be contested and even annulled.
Picking a family member leaves a chance for there to be family
drama about favoritism. Many people choose their lawyers to be
the executors.
The executor has a lot of power which is why it is necessary
that it be someone who is capable of carrying out the task. For
example, if you are leaving a house, then you might order the
executor to have the house sold and the money generated be
divided equally among all your children. To ensure that your
children benefit as much as possible it is important that the
executor knows how to get the best price for your house.
Ensure that your executor will know how to deal with your
assets.
The Beneficiary
The beneficiary is the person who you leave something to in
your last will and testament. There can be multiple beneficiaries
as well. There is no limit to who can be a beneficiary; it can be
a person or you can donate your wealth to an organization.
People who do not have any next of kin often end up leaving
their wealth to a charity or to a project they really believe in. If
there are multiple beneficiaries then you need to ensure that
your outline the will properly. Make sure that all your assets
have been accounted for and that you have mentioned what
should be done with them. You may decide to divide what you
leave behind equally among all the beneficiaries or you may
divide your wealth as you see fit. It is important to be clear
about the division to ensure that there are no problems between
the beneficiaries and that no one claims to have been treated
unfairly by the executor.
Alternate Beneficiaries
You can also assign alternate beneficiaries in case the main
beneficiaries are no longer alive. The alternate beneficiaries will
not get anything if the main beneficiaries are available to take
the inheritance but in their absence the alternate beneficiaries
will be treated like main beneficiaries. It is important to assign
alternate beneficiaries because none of us know what might
happen in the future. It is doubly important to have alternate
beneficiaries if your beneficiary is the same age as you, for
example your wife or husband.
The Witnesses
The witnesses are the people who are there to attest that you
were of sound mind and not under any stress when you signed
the will. It is necessary for legal documents to be ironclad; if
there is some doubt about the authenticity of a legal document
it could result in a lot of trouble. Which is why you need there
to be two people who can attest to the fact that no one forced
you to write the will and that you were mentally sound while
doing so. People who cannot be considered mentally sound
cannot create any type of contracts according to the law.
Things to keep in mind when writing a will
What you need to do in a last will and testament:
Identify Yourself
Declare your will
Declare any previous will to be void
Specify that you are of sound mind and that you are
not in any undue stress
Mention your relationships
Specify and authorize your executor
Determine beneficiaries
Determine what assets are yours to give away
State and specify how your assets will be given away
Define conditional gifts
Define Guardians
Write any special requests you may have
Finalize your will
Identifications and Declarations
You need to identify yourself fully in the beginning of the will.
Aside from your name you also need to include your social
security number, or a similar other identification that is unique
to you. This ensures that there is no contestation about who
wrote the will. You also need to declare that you are of sound
mind and that you are writing the will with free will instead of
undue stress to do so.
It is also important that you declare the will to be your last and
that you announce any previous wills to be void and null.
People often change wills when the status of their property or of
the beneficiaries changes. If you have made a will and
testament before you need to ensure that you void them by
declaring on your latest will. It is also very helpful to identify
the relationships you have. Include information about who you
are married to as well as your children.
Specify and authorize your executor
Once you have identified yourself you need to specify your
executor as well. You need to write down their name, their
social security number (or a similar identification detail), and
you then need to provide them the authority to act upon your
will. You need to specify that you trust this person with your
assets and that the person is authorized to sell your assets and
divide them in accordance with what is written in your will.
Think of it like a power-of-attorney, because the executor has a
lot of power.
Determine the beneficiaries
You need to think about who the beneficiaries will be. For most
people it is their spouse or children but there are no limitations
on who you can make a beneficiary. Do note that it is
recommended that you make the will with a lawyer if your
beneficiaries are unusual. Some people are estranged from their
families and do not leave them anything. You may also pick
someone you have recently met to be a beneficiary. Wills can
be contested in court thus if you have any unusual requests
you have to take extra precautions and have more witnesses so
they can testify that you made the will with a sound mind.
See what assets are yours to give
No matter what last will and testament form you choose, you
cannot will something if it wasn’t yours to give in the first
place. If you have shares in a company, you may only give away
your shares. If you live in a state where “community property”
laws exist, your spouse may have 50% ownership over the
house, which means you cannot give it away.
Writing something in your will does not supersede other
agreements that you have signed previously. Many companies
make share owners sign contracts which specify that majority
shareholders should allow the rest of the executive board to
have the first offer for buying their shares in case of their death;
if you have signed any agreement which clashes with your will
then your will may become void.
Define how you want your assets to be divided
Be as specific as you can be when it comes to dividing your
assets. The first thing you need to is list all the assets that you
have and declare their value as well. Once you have determined
all the assets that are legally yours to give away you need to
tell how they should be divided between the beneficiaries. The
purpose of a will is ensuring that your loved ones are looked
after; make the work easier by letting the executor know exactly
what you want done.
If you have multiple properties then you can give them to
different people. When doing so it is important that you enter as
much detail as possible about the property. This means you
need to mention the property’s name, it’s address, and any
other identifying information.
Conditional Gifts
Conditional wills are rare but they are valid. A conditional will
provides something to a beneficiary but only if they fulfill a
condition. Some conditions are valid while others are invalid.
For example, in most states, you can specify that a person will
get money if they graduate from college. However conditions
cannot be put on unreasonable requests such as getting
married. Talk to a lawyer about what conditions are valid and
which ones aren’t.
Special Requests
Special requests are where you put in any request you have
that are not related to your assets. Usually special requests
include what the person wants to be done with their remains.
You may specify the exact way that you want your remains to
be handles. You can choose what is to be done with your body
(such as cremation, burial, being donated to science) and you
can also choose what shall be done for your funeral. Some
people choose to specify every detail about how they want their
funeral to be, while others simply explain the wishes about what
to be done with the body.
Finalize your will
Once you have completed your will, you need to finalize it. No
matter what last will and testament template you use, you need
to make it final and ensure it is legally binding in every aspect.
You also need to sign the will in front of the witnesses and then
the witnesses need to sign the will as well. Do remember that
finalizing means that the will is final – you cannot make
amends to the will without making the witness signatures void.
If you change the will in any way, you will need to sign it again
and so will the witnesses. Reread the will again and again to
ensure that the conditions defined are ironclad.
Creating a will is a great step when it comes to planning for the
future. Most people who have lawyers will have a will ready
because lawyers know the importance of last will and
testaments. You can use any of the templates we have for the
last will and testaments depending on your needs. The
requirements of wills change from country to country and
sometimes even city to city. It is always a good idea to research
your local laws before making a will to ensure that your will is
legally enforceable. The foresight of creating a will makes
things easier for our loved ones.
