Our online last will and testament form creation system offers users the following options:
- Name personal representative (executor) and successor personal representative,
- Indicate your wishes regarding method of burial such as whether or not cremation is desired,
- Name up to 7 charitable bequests,
- Several options for directing disposition of your personal effects,
- Direct specific bequests to heirs,
- Several options for directing disposition of the residuary of your estate,
- Nominate guardians for your minor children should you die the sole parent,
- Direct that all bequests to beneficiaries under an age you specify (such as 25 years of age) are to be held in trust until each beneficiary reaches a designated age (our Last Will and Testament system can create a companion trust to your last will designed to hold bequests from your estate, for example, until a beneficiary reaches the age of 25);
- Direct that bequests to one specific beneficiary (such as the family "black sheep") be held in trust for a longer period than the others (or for this person's entire life) with spendthrift provisions to prevent dissipation of the inheritance;
- Allow for independent administration of your estate (if allowed under laws of your state),
- Allow personal representative to serve without a bond (if allowed under laws of your state).
- What are the legal requirements for executing a valid last will in the United States? Section 2-502 of the Uniform Probate Code lists the requirements as follows:
- in writing;
- signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and
- signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after he [or she] witnessed either the signing of the will as described in paragraph (2) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.
These basic requirements are followed in all fifty US states.
- What happens if I die without a last will? The estates of individuals who die without a properly executed last will are distributed under the intestate succession laws of the state in which the deceased resided at the time or his or her death. See US Intestate Succession Laws.
- All my assets are jointly owned so why should I have a will? Even if your estate is not required to go through probate because all of your assets have passed by operation of law through either a transfer on death designation or joint ownership with right of survivorship, there are other reasons to execute a simple last will. First, you may designate your wishes regarding burial. Second, it names your executor which may empower that individual to take certain action regarding your estate (such as filing a final federal tax return) even without a full probate estate. Lastly, there are invariably assets possessed at death that the decedent owns in his or her individual name without a TOD designation. By engaging in simple estate planning you put in place a fallback option in case assets unexpectedly wind up in your estate after death.
- Note: If you wish to make a bequest to a trust within your last will (such as for beneficiaries younger than a certain age or the family "black sheep"), the system shall create a trust document as a companion to your will. The price remains $13.99 regardless of whether or not a trust document is created.
- Last will form FAQ.
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