Most Important Document

Writing wills is essential because it helps to let people that survive after the testator has died know how to distribute the estate of the deceased and it is thus amongst the most important documents that a person will ever make. In fact, even if you omit writing wills, and then you would be governed by intestacy laws though the wiser course of action is to create a will according to which transfer of property and wealth can be done in an organized and clear manner.

If you are the person that is writing wills, then you would be called the testator and you can choose to either frame your own will or ask a lawyer to form one for you. However, before you get into the act of writing your will, you should be clear about its objectives and making an inventory of all that you own would help you make a better will.

One of the more important aspects to writing wills is that the testator should formulate his will in a manner that allows for the most efficient manner of transferring the estate, especially in relation to taxation and forming a trust may be one worthwhile option that you can consider in order to give your spouse or beneficiary some financial help.

After you are through with writing your will, you will need to get a copy of the will witnessed though at the same time you need to ensure that the person witnessing your will is not in fact a beneficiary. After writing your will, you need to also ensure that it is kept in a safe location and it must also be easily accessible to your beneficiaries once you have passed away. Also, in case the writing of your will has been done through a solicitor, then the solicitor should be informed in writing as to the location of the will so that the same can be produced in court and executed in accordance with the last wishes of the deceased.

The wishes and desires of the deceased may be absurd in the minds of some people, but wills and probate should guarantee that her wishes are followed no matter how questionable. A will is usually one of the most important documents that is prepared by individuals. Many people feel that they are invincible at a young age, but fate can be cruel so they should prepare their wills as soon as possible when they reach the legal age.

Wills And Probate Aid Survivors In Settling Any Estate

Wills and probate processes have been established for many years to make transitions easier for the people left behind. Through the ages, there has been plenty of evidence to show that problems can occur when an individual dies. Almost all people have some material goods that they leave behind. Some people leave more than others, but no matter the size of the estate, the possessions and assets of the deceased individual must be distributed. Systems, laws and documents have been established to help people through the difficult times of the loss of a friend or family member.

Probate is a process that checks out the validity of a will after the death of the individual. This is done by a system that has been established in the county where the person died. A proper will has witnesses to the signature that shows that the will was in fact produced by the individual. The probate process notifies all of the possible heirs of the existence of the will and notifies all interested parties of the submission of the will to the probate court system. The probate process provides a system so all debts are paid before the remaining assets are distributed to the persons named as beneficiaries in the will.

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who died in 322 B.C. According to his will, Aristotle chose his daughter’s spouse before he died, and he gave his daughter permission to use his ancestral home as long as she did not disgrace her father’s name.

Peter The Czar

Peter the Czar of Russia, who died in 1725, left a will detailing a battle plan and strategic plan for Russians to conquer Europe.

William Shakespeare

The playwright, who died in 1616, left substantial wealth in real estate to his two daughters. Shakespeare’s will said nothing about his writings, which led some to believe that others wrote them in his name.

Robert Louis Stevenson

The British writer, who died in 1850, requested in his last will that he be buried in Samoa, at the top of Mt. Vaea, an area described in his novel, Requiem.

Charles Dickens

The wills of famous people like novelist Charles Dickens sometimes contain surprising instructions for their funerals. Dickens requested that no on at the funeral wear typical mourning garb: “no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hatband, or other such revolting absurdity.”

George Orwell

The wills of famous people sometimes turn back the hands of time on fame. Don’t look too hard for a gravestone marking the grave of this famous British novelist, who died in 1950. He instructed that his grave be marked with his real name, Eric Arthur Blair.

Conrad Cantzen

The American actor, who died in 1945, left over $200,000 in his will to establish a shoe fund, for people who could not afford to buy shoes.

W.C. Fields

When the American comedian died in 1946, he left $700,000 – that’s all they found anyway. Fields was so secretive, that it was estimated an additional $600,000 was left in bank accounts all over the world that he opened in secret.

Marilyn Monroe

Ms. Monroe’s estate was eventually declared to be insolvent. Initially, she set up a $100,000 trust to take care of her mother; she gave $25,000 to friends and left her personal effects to Lee Strasberg, who taught her acting.

Abraham Lincoln

Surprisingly, President Lincoln’s will postponed the freedom of his wife’s slaves until after she had died. It just goes to show that wills of famous people can be full of surprises.

Who To Talk To

When it comes to wills and trusts, you are going to have to speak with someone who specializes in one of the two. A lawyer is a good start. Lawyers should be able to tell you how to set up wills and trusts, and they can give you good tips on how to spread out your estate. This will be especially important if you have a lot of family. Wills and trusts will spread out your assets so that those that survive your death can carry on without you.

The Difference

The difference between wills and trusts can be better explained by a professional but a run down is provided here. A will is a document that spreads out your assets, or your estate, to those loved ones you want to provide for when you’re gone. Depending on how your will is set up, you will divide what you have amongst those who are closest to you. This will is a binding document and cannot be changed, except by you, so make sure you are positive about how you want things split up when you are gone.

A trust is an entity that is set up to accrue interest and build well after you are gone. Typically, parents will set up trusts for their children so that the money can accumulate and build for something as expensive as college, or to just give them a good foot hold on starting out their lives. There are usually stipulations on trusts, such as the person cannot accept any money until they reach a certain age or something to that effect.

Wills and trusts are good to think about right now, when you’re still healthy. After all, we never know when death will come. If you don’t have wills and trusts set up and you happen to pass away, there’s no telling how your assets will be split. So make sure you get a handle on things before that time comes.

Getting Organised

The first step to making sure you have everything covered is to go through all your paperwork and sort everything into piles. If you need to get to anything in a hurry it helps to know where it all is, instead of having to sort through a huge pile of paperwork that has no logic or order to it.

Keep all your banking details in one place, and put any wills and important papers in a separate folder. Folders help to keep everything in its place and easy to access when you need it.

Under Lock And Key

A better security measure is to then lock everything away in a filing cabinet, or perhaps a safe in the case of wills and important papers, which should ideally be kept private. Some people decide to lodge wills and important papers with their bank manager, so that they don’t have the worry of keeping them at home.

You should also consider what might happen if you had a fire or flood in your home. Wills and important papers won’t last five minutes under those conditions, so even if you are keeping them in a folder make sure it’s a waterproof and watertight one.

But it’s not just about getting organised and keeping things safe. It’s also about making sure you have all the relevant documents you need. No one likes to think about what will happen after they die, but the truth is that if you have a family or any dependents you need to put measures in place to ensure they will be looked after once you are gone.

Getting your wills and important papers sorted out is a big part of doing this. It can take some time to do it properly, but the sooner you make sure your wishes are legally recognised on paper, the better. Even though it is not a nice process, it will give you peace of mind to know that all your papers are in order.

So ask yourself whether you have the right wills and important papers that you need. If you don’t, allocate some time to do whatever is needed. If you do and you don’t know where they are, now is the right time to find them.

When Are Wills Usually Read - The Hollywood Version

We all know from Hollywood movies when wills are usually read. First, there’s some character and plot development, setting up an extremely wealthy person who is either very, very old or very, very ill.

One character emerges from the plot as a hero, full of virtue, who perhaps was very attentive and devoted to the deceased. Similarly, one character emerges as a villain, full of evil, who might have been mean and horrible to the deceased, but who may have pretended to love the deceased very much.

At some point, the old, ill, wealthy person dies, and somewhere along that point in the movie, before the plot goes much further and before any other characters are introduced, that is when wills are usually read. All the characters show up in a stuffy law office and listen to the lawyer of the deceased, almost always played by a man, drone on incessantly, reading through all the legalese of a will until he gets to the point where, unbelievably, the deceased leaves all of his vast wealth to the villain and leaves nothing to the hero. A blockbuster is born, and the rest is history.

When Are Wills Usually Read - The Real Life Version

The real life reading of a will is not nearly as dramatic as the Hollywood version. In fact, will are usually not read when someone dies. The attorney for the estate files a document saying that the deceased had a will, and copies of the will are sent to the heirs – that is, the people who will inherit property under the will or who are affected by the will such as through a guardianship or trustee arrangement.

The one exception when wills are usually read out loud to a group of people in a lawyer’s office, like you see in the movies, is where the deceased specified in his or her will that it was a last wish that their will be read aloud to the group in that manner. Other than that, wills are usually not read aloud when someone dies.

Do You Need A Will?

If you have never made a will, you should consider making one, especially if you have children or significant wealth. When you leave a will specifying whom you want to raise your children if you are not around, then there is no doubt in anyone’s mind about you intent, and no one will second guess the motives or the actions of the people who try to step up to the plate and help after you are gone..

Thirty Million Dollars In Unclaimed Inheritances

The fact is that there is believed to be an estimated thirty million dollars held by the government in its accounts that make up all of the sums from unclaimed inheritance from wills. The primary reason why such huge amounts of monies lie unclaimed is that often the beneficiaries of those wills cannot be traced and after a three year time limit the government stops their search to locate these missing people and the funds are then reallocated to someone else, though for the main part, they lie unclaimed.

Thus, even if you get a notification to the effect that you are the beneficiary of unclaimed inheritance from wills you need to proceed with great caution and in any case, never respond until you are absolutely certain that the information presented to you has been thoroughly investigated and verified. You may even need to hire a lawyer or ask the law enforcement agency to do the checking.

In any case, you should be aware that the number of scams pertaining to unclaimed inheritance from wills is growing and thus the messages you receive will have an air of authenticity that is meant to allay any suspicions on the part of the recipient. The sad truth with regard to such letters detailing you as the beneficiary of unclaimed inheritance from wills is that these messages are sent to thousands of people and so, you need not be fooled into thinking that it has only been addressed to you.

To be sure that the letter is authentic and not fraudulent, you need to look for the attorney’s name or the name of the agency that is contacting you. Next, you need to verify that the names provided are authentic, and under no circumstances, should you send any money as ‘processing fees’ for claiming the unclaimed inheritance from wills. In fact, the main purpose of scamming people is to get them to pay these fees and so, you should be forewarned about the fraudulent nature of such letters and email messages.

However, if you believe that you are in fact a beneficiary to an unclaimed inheritance from wills you can go online and search a number of sites that list names of people who are legally entitled to claim unclaimed inheritance from wills. In fact, this is the proper way of determining whether you are indeed entitled to claiming any unclaimed inheritance from wills and the whole thing is free, so you need not spend even a dime in getting to the bottom of the matter.

Legal wills should also provide for other important possessions and assets. Most people have a car which is registered in their name. There might be several people who would love to have that car when the owner dies. Wills often provide for the ownership of automobiles when the owner dies. In the same category, boats, vacation homes and jet skis are usually great possessions, and there might be several members of the family who would love to have these possessions. Legal wills should provide for these items according to the owner rather than the possible owners who would love to have these to use at any time.

Legal Wills Provide For A Peaceful Transition

Legal wills are carefully prepared by trained lawyers with great experience for everyone. These experts know a great deal about the dynamics that often occur over disputes about a will. Legal wills will be drafted so all of the major possessions such as homes and boats are distributed properly. Legal wills can also provide for the disposition of other properties. The items in this category include family photos and sentimental family heirlooms. If two siblings are determined to get the family dining room set, confrontations might develop. A will should provide for the distribution of important items.

Legal wills should provide for the distribution of the money in the stock market and bank accounts. The deceased person rather than the courts and a judge will have a say in what happens to their money rather than dispassionate officials. Each adult should prepare the proper documents along with legal experts to avoid long and costly battles. Some families fight for years over the assets of family members without the proper documents. These documents are usually very similar for all people although the substance of each might vary substantially. Those with extensive holdings will probably have a much longer will than those with limited assets and possessions.

A Simple Answer?

Thus, the first impression in the debate concerning choosing between trusts vs. wills will have been formed simply and without much effort either. However, with a little bit more care you will soon come to realize that the fees charged pertain only to the setting-up costs and not the actual costs of administering the wishes mentioned in either the trusts or wills after you have passed away.

Thus, before deciding one way or the other with regard to trusts or wills, you also need to take into consideration the costs of carrying out your wishes since it would be wrong to assume that the costs related to trusts or wills means only the cost of drafting either document. The trouble begins when the estate must pass through the probate process and so, you need to consider fees that could amount to as much as ten thousand dollars that in turn means needing to add this to the cost of either trusts or wills costs.

Thus, once you have factored in the costs of executing the will, you will find that wills are in fact, very expensive and thus you may actually be better off settling for the trust, which despite carrying higher initial drafting costs, will work out to be cheaper in the long run.

The fact is that if you choose a trust, you won’t need to be worried about going through probate and thus using a trust will help you eliminate as much as ten thousand dollars in costs of probate. Thus, any successor trustee would get the immediate right to distribute the property according to the trust and that there is no need for anyone to go to court or hire a lawyer to execute the estate satisfactorily.

Another advantage to opting for a trust is that in case of wills, it is the legal document that is most often contested and by factoring in the high costs of executing the will, it will in fact be surprising to learn that the trust works out to be not only cheaper in the long term, but also less contentious and thus you would get value for your time as well as money by opting for a trust – especially a revocable living trust.

Promise To Make A Will

The earliest stage in the legal disposition of a will comes before the will has ever been written; it is a promise to make a will. This happens most often with spouses, who each leave their property to the other spouse based on a promise that the other spouse will do likewise. On other occasions, a promise to make a will takes place in the context of a credit transaction. A person who borrows money agrees, as a condition of the loan, to make a will leaving sufficient money to the lender to repay the loan.

Making Of A Will

The next stage in the legal disposition of a will is the actual making of a will. A will must meet certain technical legal requirements. The person who makes the will must be over the age of 18 years and must be “of sound mind” – that is, have an idea of what their property includes, who their blood relatives are, how they want to dispose of their property, and in what manner the legal disposition of the will will be made.

After The Will Is Made

The legal disposition of a will where the testator (the person who wrote the will) is still alive is that the will has no legal effect. The will only has a significant legal effect after the person who made the will has died.

Revoking A Will

The legal disposition of a revoked will is the same as if the will had never been made. The rules for revoking a will can vary depending on the location where the testator resides. In some places, a testator can merely state “I revoke this will.” In others, the testator must tear up the will or destroy it in addition to stating the intention to revoke the will.

Changing A Will

A testator can change his or her will at any time until death. The testator can either write a Codicil, or a document amending an existing will, or tear the old will up and start over from scratch. Any new will should contain a provision stating that the testator revokes all prior wills, just to be sure no old wills pop up unexpectedly.