![]() Sizemore also recommends updating your will every five or so years.Ī will and up-to-date beneficiary information will suffice for most estate plans, but if you have substantial assets or especially complex circumstances, you may want to consider a trust. It is therefore imperative that you review beneficiaries regularly and choose contingent beneficiaries as backup. ![]() So regardless of what your will says - and even if you wrote it last month - the payouts from these products will go to the beneficiaries you designated when you filled out the forms, even if that was decades ago (when, say, you named your then-spouse as beneficiary). "It's their IRA or 401(k) beneficiary designations." That's because many financial products, including retirement accounts and life insurance policies, are themselves legal contracts and, by law, supersede any instructions in your will. "For a lot of Americans, the single most important document isn't their will," Sizemore says. (Note that married couples need a separate will for each spouse.) If your legal situation is complicated, however, you should consult an attorney.īut even a good will has its limits. "If your situation is sufficiently simple, an online will is probably fine." Websites such as Rocket Lawyer, LegalZoom and LegalShield offer will services that can cost under $100 for straightforward estates. "There is no substitute for a genuine estate planner, but online wills have vastly improved in recent years," says Charles Sizemore, principal at Sizemore Capital Management in Dallas. In a digital age, you may not need an attorney to prepare a will there are many online templates you can use to keep costs down. ![]() "But remember, your will becomes part of the public record when it's placed into probate," Honey cautions, "so don't include anything you wish to keep private." Indeed, for people with minor children, the chance to name guardians for those children is often the single most compelling reason to make a will.Ī will also lets you state your preferences in such matters as burial versus cremation, the care of a beloved pet or the completion of other assorted personal agendas. Clearly, these are not choices you want to leave up to the court. The same is true of your children's guardians. In the absence of a will, the court picks the executor. Generally your executor is a trusted friend or relative who is unfazed by paperwork and has the patience to carry out the often tedious job of thoroughly settling an estate (including paying off creditors and maintaining property until it can be inherited or sold). Typically, a will provides that guidance by naming an executor, beneficiaries, and guardians for minor children and disabled adult dependents, and by spelling out how assets will be distributed. But when there are no written instructions to guide them, lawyers and other legal representatives often work slowly and follow set formulas that may not reflect your wishes. But if you don't have a will, a judge will be making key decisions about your estate, not you.Īll estates, whether there's a will or not, are subject to review by state probate courts - a fact that some people mistakenly believe negates the need for a will.
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