married, your spouse is typically the first pick, but you’ll need to name a backup. Choose wisely: This role can be ripe for abuse. Make sure that it’s someone you trust who is competent and neutral—not someone who favors one side of the family over the other. Chose someone your age or younger (there’s a greater chance he’ll be around) and not a family member who has a lot to gain or lose. Your unbiased cousin is a safe bet, or a fiscally responsible close friend. Ask yourself: Who is reliable, is not too emotionally attached, and can get things done? You can also use a professional executor, who can be someone from a local bank or your own lawyer or accountant. Professional executors charge a fee, which varies by state; family members who act as executor are also entitled to the fee, but they typically waive it.
If I do a simple will without a lawyer, what makes it official? Your signature and witnesses. Every state has specific witnessing requirements. If you don’t follow them, a court will say that you have died “intestate,” which means without a will. You don’t have to file the will anywhere or even have it notarized. Just keep it in a safe place— ideally in a fireproof lockbox or cabinet— and let your executor know where it is. What if I change my mind? Is it a big deal to change my will? Not at all. In fact, it’s expected. But ask your lawyer in advance what the fees are to update it. With any major life event— another child, a move to another state, a divorce, a death in the family—you need to update your documents. Depending on the change, you might need to create a whole new will. Writing a new will (which should say in it that it revokes all previous wills) nullifies the old one.
What’s the danger in not having a will? It’s not as if your children will become wards of the state and your property will be seized. But the state will appoint an administrator to distribute your stuff according to state law (broadly determining, say, that everything you have belongs to the kids and leaving it to them to decide who gets what). If your children are minors, a judge will choose a guardian for them. The real concern is that you’ll have no control over what happens, and your kids could be set up for major financial burdens (such as inheriting debt and serious tax blows). So just do it: Any will at all is better than no will.
This Halloween get into the Chocolate, Caramel and Nougat.
G I V I N G TO C H A R I T Y
If there’s a cause you want to donate to in your will, make sure it accepts inheritance donations.
