Estate Planning Lawyer
Every person needs a will. It doesn’t matter if you are single, married, or have children or not, a will is something that every person needs to have. A will is not for your benefit, but rather is a way to help ease the burden of your passing for your family and loved ones. When a person dies, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up. Who gets the house? Is the savings account divided up evenly between the kids? Who inherits the family jewelry? A legally binding will answers these questions for your family.
Even though your will is such an important document, many people decide that they want to write a will on their own and not have any legal advice or help. And while the answer is no, you do not need a lawyer to write a will, by having a professional write your will you could save your family a lot of potential battles and headaches in the future.
What do you put in a will?
A basic will has three main parts. First, it designates who will be responsible for your minor children if there are any at the time of your death. This is an extremely important decision because whoever you choose will raise your child until they become an adult. Hopefully, you never have to utilize this part of your will, but it is a critical part nonetheless. You want to make sure your will is written correctly as a legally binding document so that the people you want to take care of your children actually get guardianship.
Second, your will names an “executor”. This is the person that you are going to choose to make sure that your will is executed correctly. This person confirms that everyone got what you wanted them to get and that your requests were honored.
Third, a will is written to divide up your belongings. This includes property, assets, retirement IRAs, checking and savings accounts, homes, jewelry, and anything else you want to give away or sell. Over the course of a lifetime, we accumulate a lot of stuff and once we pass away, it’s our family’s responsibility to take care of that stuff. Your will is where you leave your things to the right people. By writing a will, it alleviates the pressure from your children or family to decide how to divvy up your property. A legally binding will makes this very clear and hopefully prevents arguments.
While writing your own will may sound simple, you want to make sure it is done correctly. Sure you can scribble down a few things on the back of a napkin and call it a will, but will it stand up in court? If someone were to contest your will, would they win? If you use an Estate Planning Lawyer Allentown, PA offers to help you write your will, you can be assured that it will stand up in court. Many people choose to write their own wills because they don’t want to pay for a lawyer – which is fair. But if spending a few hundred dollars now can avoid spending thousands of dollars in court, why wouldn’t you take that deal? It’s a small price to pay to make sure your last will and wishes are carried out and your family is taken care of when you are gone.
Thank you to our friends and contributors at Klenk Law for their insight into estate planning and the benefits of having a lawyer to help write your will.
