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Last Will And Testament

Prepare Your Own Will

If you would like to prepare your own will, it’s not difficult to do so by going online to a will preparation website. For a nominal charge, online software templates can guide you through the process relatively quickly. But writing a will can be a trivial or complex matter, depending on the size of your estate (amount of personal possessions) and what you would like to happen to your estate when you die. Most people don’t like to think about dying, but death is virtually inevitable and improper planning can put an estate in the hands of a complete stranger appointed by the state.

Regardless of whether your estate is large or small, and your wishes are simple or complex, there are a few basic rules that everyone should know about wills: 1. Everyone should have one; 2. A competent attorney should check it for correctness when it is completed; 3. You must be an adult to write your own will; 4. You must be of sound mind; 5. It must state that it is your will, in the will; 6. It must be type printed, not hand written; 7. It must be signed by the correct number of witnesses; 8.

It must be signed and dated by you; 9. It must be notarized by a Notary Public. Additionally, a will cannot change the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy, retirement plan, or annuity. It must also name an executor, or co-executors, the person or persons who will be responsible for carrying our your will.

A will does a couple of things that are very important: It addresses how your property is to be handled upon your death, and it assigns guardianship of any surviving minor children. The handling of property is important because if the value exceeds the threshold for estate taxes, it will be taxed. A properly prepared will can significantly avoid taxes through legal means, such as trusts. If you die without a will and have minor children without a guardian, the state may end up appointing guardianship to a relative, or, when a guardian cannot be found, might make the children wards of the state.

There are horror cases involving predatory and sadistic sexual abuse that has been perpetrated to children who were wards of the state. These stories are not for the faint of heart, but one has to interview the victims to get the true stories because they are not made public by the state.

WIll Templates:

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