“Wills are beneficial, whether you think you have assets or not.”
Having a will and an estate plan makes passing along assets much easier for the family. Having necessary documents like a power of attorney and a health care power of attorney lets the family make decisions for a loved one, who has become incapacitated. These are estate planning basics, as reported by WKBN 27 in the article “Attorney recommends everyone have a will in place to prevent avoidable issues.”
Think of the will as a way to speak for yourself, when you have passed away. It’s the instructions for what you want to happen to your property, when you die. If there’s a will, the executor is responsible for carrying out your requests. With no will, a court will have to make these decisions.
Many people believe that if they don’t have a will, their spouse will simply inherit everything, automatically. This is not true. There are some states where the surviving spouse receives 50% of a decedent’s assets and the children receive the rest. However, the children could be offspring from outside the marriage. Not having a will, makes your estate and your family vulnerable to unexpected claims.
A will must contain certain elements, which are determined by your state’s laws and must be signed in the presence of two witnesses. Without the correct formalities, the will could be deemed invalid.
Lawyers recommend that everyone have a will and an estate plan, regardless of the size of your estate.
Young parents, in particular, need to have a will, so they can name a person to be guardian of their child or children, if they should both die.
Details matter. In some states, if you make a list and neglect to name specifically who gets what, using the term “children” instead of someone’s name, your stepchildren may not be included. State laws vary, so a local estate planning attorney is your best resource.
You should also be sure to talk with your spouse and your children about what your intentions are, before putting your wishes in writing. You may not feel totally comfortable having the discussion. However, if your intention is to preserve the family, especially if it is a blended family, then everyone should have a chance to learn what to expect.
Wills do become binding, but they are not a one-time event. Just as your life changes, your estate plan and your will should change.
Don’t neglect to update your beneficiary designations. Those are the people you named to receive retirement accounts, bank accounts or other assets that can be transferred by beneficiary designations. The instructions in your will do not control the beneficiary designation. This is a big mistake that many people make. If your will says your current spouse should receive the balance of your IRA when you die but your IRA lists your first wife, your ex will receive everything.
Here are the four estate planning documents needed:
- A will;
- A living will, if you need to be placed on life support and decisions need to be made;
- A healthcare power of attorney, if you cannot speak for yourself, when it comes to medical decisions;
- A durable power of attorney to make financial decisions, if you are incapacitated.
A local estate planning attorney can help you create all of these documents and will also help you clarify your wishes. If you have an estate plan but have not reviewed it in years, you’ll want to do that soon. Laws and lives change, and you may need to make some changes.
Reference: WKBN 27 (March 14, 2019) “Attorney recommends everyone have a will in place to prevent avoidable issues.”
“無論你認為自己是否擁有資產,遺囑都是有利的。”
擁有遺囑和資產計劃使得家庭更容易傳承資產。擁有財務授權書和醫療授權書等必要文件可讓家人為已喪失能力的親人做決定。這些是資產規劃的基礎,正如WKBN 27在文章“Attorney recommends everyone have a will in place to prevent avoidable issues.”所報告的那樣。
當你去世時,遺囑像是代你發言的一種的方式。當你去世時,它就是一個指引說明你想要你的財產如何處理。如果有遺囑,執行人有責任執行您的要求。沒有遺囑,法院便會做決定。
許多人認為,如果他們沒有遺囑,他們的配偶就會自動繼承一切。這並不正確。在某些州,在生配偶獲得死者的一半資產,而子女則獲得其餘的資產。可是,他們可能是非婚生子女。故沒有遺囑,會使您的遺產和家人容易受到意想不到的索償。
遺囑必須包含某些要素,這些要素由您所在州的法律決定,並且必須在兩名證人在場的情況下簽署。如果沒有正確的手續,遺囑可能被視為無效。
律師建議每個人都有遺囑和資產計劃,無論您的資產規模如何。
特別是年輕父母, 更需要遺囑,這樣他們可以指定一個在他們都去世後作為子女的監護人。
細節很重要。在某些州,如果你列出一個資產清單而忽略了具體說明誰得到什麼,使用“子女”這個詞而不是某個人的名字,那麼你的繼子女可能不會被包括在內。各州法律各不相同,因此咨詢當地的資產規劃律師是最好的辦法。
在以書面形式表達您的意願之前,您應該要與您的配偶和您的子女談論您的意願。討論時你可能感覺不太舒服。但是,如果你的目的是保護家庭,特別是混合家庭,那麼每個人都應該有機會得知自己將得到什麼。
遺囑確實具有約束力,但不是一次便能完成。隨著你的生活產生變化,你的資產計劃和遺囑應該作出適當的改變。
不要忽略更新您的受益人名稱。這些人您所指定的人將得到您的退休帳戶,銀行帳戶或其他可以通過指定受益人來轉移資產的人。您遺囑中的說明不會推翻這些指定受益人。這是許多人犯下的大錯誤。如果你的遺囑說由你現在的配偶在你去世時會得到你IRA中的餘額,但你的IRA上列明的卻是你的前妻,那麼你的前妻將得到一切。
以下是所需的四份資產規劃文件:
- 遺囑;
- 生前意願書,如果你需要用儀器來維持生命並且作出決定時;
- 醫療授權書在您不能為自己作出醫療方面的決定時;
- 財務授權書來做出財務上的決定, 當您喪失行為能力時
當地的資產規劃律師可以幫助您建立所有這些文件,並幫助您表明您的意願。如果您已有資產計劃,但多年未有進行審核,你需要盡快審核。您可能因法律和生活上的變化而需要做出一些改變。
參考: WKBN 27 (March 14, 2019) “Attorney recommends everyone have a will in place to prevent avoidable issues.”