Many websites promise to let you make your own Will quickly and easily online, and then download it for printing.  Is this a good idea?  Do you know enough about Wills, Trusts and Probate to know what your legal options are?  Do you know how to sign your Will properly so that it will be legally enforceable and easily probated without your witnesses having to testify after your death?

WILL BASICS

First, let us review some basics about Wills.  Your Will is a written document by which your estate can re-title your assets at your death. The Will lets you decide and list who gets what. You can give specific items to certain persons and you can choose who should receive your assets. You can leave your assets to companions, lovers, or partners, regardless of marriage; to foundations; or to noncitizens. You can specify alternate beneficiaries to inherit in the event the first person named in the Will dies before you.

Through a Will, you can leave property to minor children (whether your own or not) or grandchildren.  You can choose the best method to manage property left to a minor or young adult.  The Will may create a children’s trust or use the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.

You can designate your children’s guardian.  In certain cases, you can state a case for the appointment of a personal guardian other than the child’s remaining natural parent to care for your minor children.

You can give away pets as well as funds to care for pets.  You cannot leave money or property directly to an animal because animals cannot legally own property.

You can exclude or disinherit relatives.  However, you cannot make an inheritance conditioned on the heir’s marriage or divorce, or on their change of religion.  Such conditions will be ignored by the Probate Court, and the heir will be entitled to the inheritance free of conditions. You also cannot, by Will, leave money for an illegal purpose or direct that something illegal be done.

A WILL DOES NOT CONTROL EVEYTHING

A Will does not control all your assets.  The Will does not leave proceeds of a life insurance policy to someone other than the beneficiary named in the policy. The same rule applies with regard to assets in a Living Trust, to pension plan or retirement benefits, and to bank or brokerage accounts with a trust designation. This is because you, by naming a beneficiary in each of these documents, have contractually disposed of that property already. These items are not subject to the Will (unless you name your Estate as the beneficiary).

HOW IS AN ESTATE PLAN DIFFERENT FROM A WILL?

An Estate Plan usually includes a Will but it is much more comprehensive, addressing far more than just the distributing your assets at death. It is a plan designed to transfer assets both during life and at death through such means as living trusts, testamentary trusts, life insurance contracts, and joint tenancies and other ownership documents. Documents possibly needed for a full Estate Plan include

• A Will
• Trust agreements
• Powers of attorney
• Deeds
• Beneficiary designation forms
• Retirement benefit elections
• Pay-on-death instructions
• A marital agreement
• A preneed guardian declaration
• A living Will
• A health care surrogate designation.

Your attorney can design your Estate Plan to help you accumulate assets economically and efficiently during your life.  Your Estate Plan will help to ensure that your lifetime needs are met (such as college tuition and retirement funding).  If taxes are a concern, your Estate Plan can transfer your assets both during life and at death to result in reduced income, estate, gift, and inheritance taxes, all within the framework of your objectives.

With an Estate Plan, your heirs can avoid Probate Court altogether.  You can also minimize losses from forced liquidation of property, and can maximize protection and flexibility afforded by trusts or other devices for beneficiaries. An Estate Plan can provide for a disadvantaged child, establish a scholarship fund for a grandchild, handle potential problems arising from a subsequent marriage when you have children from a first marriage, and arrange for charitable gifts.

Your attorney can determine and advise you if the Will document, by itself or in conjunction with a power of attorney and health care advance directives, will be sufficient to accomplish your objectives. If it appears to the attorney that a Will cannot adequately satisfy your present needs, your attorney can recommend other estate planning measures for you.

Using a licensed attorney to prepare your Estate Plan gives you peace of mind that your desires will be carried out with minimal stress and expense to your heirs.  If you live in Florida and would like to consult with an attorney regarding your estate planning alternatives, call Bogin, Munns & Munns, P.A. at (352) 332-7688 in Gainesville or (407) 578-1334 in Orlando.

– Zana Dupee, Esq., is an attorney with Bogin, Munns, & Munns, P.A., a full service law firm with offices in Orlando, Clermont, Kissimmee, Deltona, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Melbourne, Gainesville, and Leesburg, Florida.   Mrs. Dupee works out of the Gainesville office of the firm and welcomes questions and comments regarding the above and can be reached at zdupee@boginmunns.com.

NO LEGAL ADVICE: This blog entry is not intended as legal advice nor should you consider it as such. It is intended only as general information.  You should not act upon this information without retaining professional legal counsel. Please keep in mind that merely subscribing to or reading this blog or otherwise contacting Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. in the manner that you have will not establish an attorney-client relationship with our firm. Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. cannot represent you until the firm knows there would not be a conflict of interest, and the firm determines that it is otherwise able to accept the engagement.