According to several family law attorneys, writing your will is one way to fulfill your responsibility to your family. Writing a will helps to prevent problems regarding sharing your estate and caring for your family upon death. Unfortunately, many people believe that writing a will is a serious task and you can always do that when you are old. However, you can write your will now, as it is never too early to write a will as long as you are 18 years old; you can always update it later on.
Meanwhile, the following are ways to write your will in five steps:
1. Plan When to Write Your Will
You must be at least 18 years old to write a will. Meanwhile, you should plan when you will write your will. As soon as you get married and start having kids, or when you get some assets, plan when to write your will. This will allow you to state who will get what out of your properties and how your kids will be taken care of.
2. List Your Property
The second step to write your will is to draw up a list of all the belongings you have. Making an inventory of all you have will allow you to allocate them appropriately according to your wishes. The list may contain real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, investments, retirement plans, jewellery, artwork, and other personal assets.
3. Allocate Your Property
Going through the list of your belongings, decide what you will leave to who. You can decide who benefits from your assets and property. It is, however, essential to state in clear, quantifiable terms. You can leave all your properties to one or more people, based on how you want to share your property.
4. Appoint Your Executor and a Guardian for Your Children
You must appoint an executor; someone you trust to distribute your assets and manage your estate according to your wishes. Your heirs will become executors if you do not appoint an executor. Also, if you have minor children, you must designate a guardian that will look after them until they have grown up, only if you are the last parent to die.
5. Choose the Type of Will You Want
There are three types of wills: notarized, witnessed, and holographic wills.
- Witnessed Will: You can write this type of will alone or with the help of a lawyer. However, you must sign it in the presence of two adult witnesses who will also sign together with you. Meanwhile, neither of the witnesses must be an heir or beneficiary, according to family law. However, a witnessed will can be handwritten or typed using a computer. It will still retain its authenticity and acceptance.
- Holographic Will: This type of will requires you to write your wishes on paper. You must write it by hand and sign it. You do not require a witness for this type of will. However, this type of will has its risks like interpretation issues after death.
- Notarized Will: This is a registered will that is usually written after receiving advice from a notary to ensure that no aspect of family law is violated or interpretation issues are caused.
Takeaway
Follow the steps above to write your will without hassles. Meanwhile, you can contact us when looking for an experienced family law attorney for help on writing a will or other family-related issues.
