Wills

Wills allow you to make many important decisions before you die or lack the legal capacity to decide what you want to happen after you are gone.

The alternative is the “Do Nothing Plan” which is actually no plan at all and allows the default state laws to control what happens next.

If you have minor children and no Will, state laws require a judge to designate a guardian for your children who will have legal authority to make decisions. But if you have a Will, you can designate who you want to be the guardian of your children. If you have no Will, you also have no way to direct your estate to be managed for your children until they reach a certain age. This is important because your children probably won’t have the maturity to manage a large inheritance at age 18 when the default state laws allow them to inherit your estate.

Another problem with the "Do Nothing Plan" is that you can't decide who inherits from you and what they inherit.

If you have a Will, you can decide that your grandchildren, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends, or charities will inherit from you and you can give them specific items if you wish. If you don’t have a Will, none of these options are available to you.

The corollary to the “Do Nothing Plan” is to create a Will but fail to complement it with Powers of Attorney or a Revocable Living Trust. A Will only operates when you die so you also need Powers of Attorney that operate if you are alive but incapacitated. A Will also requires probate by the court if you own real estate in your name rather than in the name of a Trust, or if you have assets worth more than $100,000 in your personal name rather than in the name of a Trust.

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