Who gets my assets after I die? I have kids and pets, who will take care of them after my death? You get to choose the answers to these questions. All you need to do is to make a will. This process used to be tedious, cumbersome, and expensive: you had to find an attorney, go to their office, sign a lot of papers, and pay a lot of money. Not anymore. Now you can make your last will and testament online in less than 30 minutes, and your loved ones will appreciate that.
Your last will and testament might make the life of your loved ones much easier and lessen their emotional burden after your death. They would know what you wanted them to do with your assets and who you assigned to be the guardian for your kids and pets.
A person who you trust should agree to act on your behalf after you pass away. They will make funeral arrangements, apply for a death certificate, take care of your social accounts, contact your heirs, and such. If you don’t appoint a will executor, they will be appointed by the court, and it may be not the person you would trust.
While you are still alive, you decide how your estate will be handled after your death. You can determine who gets your real estate property, your car, your savings, your valuables, etc. If you don’t create a will, the court will make these decisions for you and probably not the way you would like it. In some states, your spouse will get it all; in other states, your whole estate will be distributed among your closest relatives. The biggest estate planning mistake you can make in your life is not leaving a will.
In your last will, you can make a decision about who should care for your minor children In case you don’t have a will, the court will appoint a family member or a state guardian.
In your will, you can appoint people you trust as guardians for your pets. Otherwise, your pets may end up in a shelter.
In certain states, gifts of up to $13,000 are excluded from the estate tax, so you can increase the value of your gift, and your heirs will definitely appreciate that. In addition, you can make donations to the charity of your choice that reflects your personal interests and values.
Those people, who might otherwise be appointed your heirs by the probate court, will not get anything if you specifically exclude them in your will.
If you die without a will, your assets will be distributed according to the laws in your state. Even if you’re a deeply devout believer, the court will not take the customs and rules of your religion into account when dividing your assets. But if you create a will in advance, you can ensure that those rules are followed. For American Muslims, there are even special Sharia-compliant will makers.
Remember that you can always change your mind and make as many corrections to your will as you need. Most online will makers will not even charge you for that.
Young people usually think that a will is a document that old people make on their deathbed. The truth is that death may come unexpectedly, and if you don’t have a will, your assets may be dispersed in a way you would never imagine. For example, everything might go to the spouse from one’s second marriage, and the kids from the first marriage get nothing. Therefore, it’s smarter to make your will ahead of time. If you wait for too long, you might never get the chance.
Let’s look at who would benefit from making a will.
Anytime is a good time to make a will. Actually, the sooner you make it, the better for you and your loved ones. You can always make changes to your will if needed, as many times as you need.
Your will should include the following information:
Your will does not have to be a complicated document, and it won’t take much time to create it with any of the online will makers reviewed on our site. Once you have created a will and made sure it is in compliance with the current state laws, you should store it in a safe place and let others know where to find it.
When thinking about estate planning, you may start wondering whether you need a will if you have a trust. To find the answer to this question it’s important to understand the differences between the two documents. A living trust is a legal document that transfers all or some of your assets into a trust and appoints a company or an individual, such as yourself, as the trustee who controls and manages the assets. While a will comes into play only after your death, a trust goes into effect as soon as it is signed. Putting your assets into a trust will allow your relatives to inherit your belongings without going through probate, which is a time-consuming and expensive process. Plus, information about assets listed in your trust will remain confidential, while everything you list in a last will and testament will become public.
On the other hand, you can’t appoint guardians for your children or state your requests for end-of-life matters in a trust, so you will need to make a will with that information. In conclusion, wills and trusts are different estate-planning documents that are best used together to create an effective estate plan.
If you ask yourself “Do I need a will?” then the answer is always yes. First of all, you need a will to prevent fighting in your family for your assets. Do I need a will or trust even if I have no assets? Of course! Wills are not for the rich and famous only. Even if you only own a few things, you can still mention in your will who will get them.
You need a will to appoint guardians to your kids or pets. If you are entitled to receive any pension benefits or have life insurance, you need to specify who will be the beneficiary after you pass away. A will allows you to leave the things you own to the people you care about. This is why you need a will. Today, wills are very easy to create online. We recommend that you read our online will maker reviews and select the company that meets your needs best. And to find all the information you could possibly need about creating a will, go to our last will and testament guide page.