Do you have a will? Life Insurance? Please Read!

[skirbo]

Quote:
I'm glad that your lawyer friends agree that the will you typed up will work fine for you. But I'm a paralegal. I have been one for almost 20 years and much of that time has been spent working in private practices that worked with - among other things - estates, trusts and wills in both Florida and Georgia. Virginia is one of the last states in the union that accepts handwritten, non-notarized wills as potentially valid. I remember a particular situation involving Virginia arose in a Florida office I worked for where the attorney commented that Virginia was unique in several probate areas, partly due to the fact that it is a commonwealth. I don't really remember the particulars other than it had to do with the transfer of real estate under the will.

What you said 'first and foremost' was to write up a will immediately and that all you needed was two witness signatures and it didn't even have to be notarized. That's legal advice. And it's wrong.

And no, I meant a living will. And yes, they can be overturned, by a judge for both family or doctors/hospitals, when they are done incorrectly. I've seen it happen.

I agree that you don't *have* to have a lawyer to do up a will. However you do need to know where to find the laws in your state, or be willing to spend the money on a reputable 'kit' for current forms or a licensed paralegal (if your state allows them to help with document preparation) so that things are done correctly and are therefore more difficult to challenge.

Respectfully,
Sarah

 

[AllChookUp]

Deb -

You mentioned a "free" online will that you used. I would rather use something like that, so I don't do it from scratch.

Can you point me to the website for the online will you used?
Thank you for posting this.

 

[HennysMom]

Quote:
I'm glad that your lawyer friends agree that the will you typed up will work fine for you. But I'm a paralegal. I have been one for almost 20 years and much of that time has been spent working in private practices that worked with - among other things - estates, trusts and wills in both Florida and Georgia. Virginia is one of the last states in the union that accepts handwritten, non-notarized wills as potentially valid. I remember a particular situation involving Virginia arose in a Florida office I worked for where the attorney commented that Virginia was unique in several probate areas, partly due to the fact that it is a commonwealth. I don't really remember the particulars other than it had to do with the transfer of real estate under the will.

What you said 'first and foremost' was to write up a will immediately and that all you needed was two witness signatures and it didn't even have to be notarized. That's legal advice. And it's wrong.

And no, I meant a living will. And yes, they can be overturned, by a judge for both family or doctors/hospitals, when they are done incorrectly. I've seen it happen.

I agree that you don't *have* to have a lawyer to do up a will. However you do need to know where to find the laws in your state, or be willing to spend the money on a reputable 'kit' for current forms or a licensed paralegal (if your state allows them to help with document preparation) so that things are done correctly and are therefore more difficult to challenge.

Respectfully,
Sarah

Sarah,

Glad you're a paralegal, then you can answer any questions others may have on here possibly.

However - the very first thing I stated was to contact a lawyer - and I repeated it - twice - as well as pertaining to each states' laws. Please dont make me out to sound like I am giving legal advice willy-nilly - because I am not. Am I a paralegal? Nope, dont claim to be; however, have I been in this situation before? YES I have so I know for MY state what it entails and what is legal and what isnt - again for my state. Florida has its own laws and they are pretty strange in some areas and differ greatly from any other state in the US - especially from Viriginia - as you said, we are a Commonwealth.

Not going to argue the point by any means, not my intent; however you know your state laws and others know theirs. But - if a Living Directive (medical) form is obtained from a hospital or online from your State (each state has an Advanced Medical Directive Form available for free that will uphold at EVERY hospital in the state) - then it cannot be overturned by anyone. Maybe its different in Florida but if the proper form is used (not one you type up for Advanced Medical Directives) - then its legal and binding, period.

Have a great day!

Deb

 

[cubalaya]

how about that link to the website ?

 

[Rosalind]

State requirements for a last will & testament.

Note that many states grant a share to surviving spouses regardless of the contents of the will--i.e., your spouse can actually murder you, get caught, and still collect a portion of your assets even if the will says that you wanted all your money to go to your kids and ends with the words, "help help I hear her coming for me...." Some states (RI) go so far as to specifically divide property up amongst surviving spouses and children who are not mentioned in the will, unless you specify "and my rotten ungrateful son Joe Schmoe is not to get one red penny, on account of being a brat." This is very helpful to, say, those "long lost relatives" that magically pop up whenever someone dies.

Also, when you're deciding who will care for your children--this sounds simple, but ask before you assume that your best friend/relative will be delighted to care for your darling children. It's amazing to me how many people simply assume that anyone would be overjoyed (or even able) to add (two, four, twenty) members to their family on the whim of fate. Ask first, and don't be offended if someone says they are not up to that much responsibility. Seriously, one of DH's close friends ended up with a second daughter by surprise. He and his wife love the child, and were fortunate that they were able to give her a home, but when a social worker pops up on your doorstep with a kid and is astonished that you didn't know you were next in line for guardianship...It's not good for either your beloved friends/relatives OR the kids to have social workers running around trying to arrange foster care.

 

[AHappychick]

Quote:
the share that is supposed to go to the wife is 1/3 if there is no will, but that can be fought by just about anyone and it is not nearly so cut and dry, you would think it would be simple but unfortunatlly it is anything but. The rest is supposed to go to any surviving chidren but that too is not as simple as one would think.

 

[debilorrah]

Chook - Legalzoom.com is one site.....

 

[AllChookUp]

Thanks, debi!

 

[ChevygirlBeth]

Thanks for the reminder! DH and I have been married for 6 months now and I told him that getting life insurance and wills for both of us was important. We have life insurance now, but I had forgotten about getting the wills done. Especially now that we're buying a home, it's time to get that taken care of! The other thing I told him I'd like to take care of soon is purchasing cemetery plots and making funeral plans - it sounds morbid, but it would be nice to have that kind of thing handled ahead of time, especially after watching my aunt lose her husband and have to deal with so much at once while her heart was broken.

 

[DuckLady]

My father died without a will. What a nightmare he left behind.
We have trusts set up all neat and tidy.