General Information About The Last Will and Testament

Posted on June 22, 2011 by admin

A will is a legal document that helps you to protect your assets and minimize any dispute over the distribution of your estate when you pass on. When created properly, a will is a tool that will control the distribution of your property upon your death. Also, you can use a last will and testament to appoint a guardian over your minor child(ren) in the event you pass on. You can also name the person who will manage your estate after you die, to help properly execute the will and distribute the property to the appropriate beneficiaries as directed. If any of these issues are important to you then you should think about creating a last will and testament.

When you have created a will, your assets are distributed to your beneficiaries through an order of the probate court. The executor, which you name in your will, gathers up the assets and provides an inventory of it to the probate court. The executor is then responsible for overseeing the testator’s (person who made the will) assets while distributing them according to the specific requests in the will.

To make a valid will the person who made the will must have been at least 18 years old or more and must have signed the document in the presence of two witnesses. For the will to be valid the testator (person making the will) must sign the document in front of two witnesses, and the signature must be notarized in the presence of those same two witnesses.

A lot of people get confused between a Trust and a Last Will and Testament. A Trust details how property is held, transferred, or owned before the death of the person who made the trust. If a Trust is the legal owner of the transferred property and the testator dies then the transferred property doesn’t have to go through Probate court. This is because a Trust doesn’t give directive to your wishes over your assets after your death like a last will does.

This article has been brought to you by Legal Forms Bank .Biz – where you can download legal forms online. When you download your state’s last will and testament kit, you get instructions and the form in PDF format, and other formats that allows you to easily fill out and print out the form at home on your PC without the need for a lawyer.
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What exactly makes a last will and testament legally-binding?

What does it take to make it “official?” Does a lawyer have to be involved? If I download a form from the internet and fill it out will that be considered legally-binding?

Answer
A lot of different things are required to make a will effective. Obviously, it’s very important that the will be effective to carry out your wishes after you die because after all, you won’t be there to ensure your wishes are followed. The requirements for an effective will vary by state and they can be very, very technical.

So, one could potentially do it correctly without a lawyer, but trying to do it without a lawyer is taking a big risk that the will won’t be effective and therefore that your wishes won’t be followed.

Plus, if you have assets like a house or any real money, it’s certainly worth the small expense to do a will correctly.

Also, a lawyer can help you plan for future contingencies in your will. What if you don’t have kids now but have them when you die? What if if you have more kids between now and the time of your death? What if you have grandkids? What about other family members? If you have siblings and they have kids (but, e.g., you don’t) do you want to provide for your nieces and nephews?

If the kids you bequeath stuff to are still minors when you die do you want them to get the money or should their parents hold it in trust for them until they turn 18? 21? 35? Can they only use the money for school? Etc.

Spring for the lawyer.

Last Will and Testament Forms

Online Last Will and Testament forms and other estate planning documents including living wills, revocable living trusts and trust agreements. more info…