A legal document that outlines your wishes for how you want property to be distributed is referred to as a will. If you die without having a will, then your wishes now may not be abided by in the future. Furthermore, your beneficiaries may spend extra emotional energy, money, and time settling your affairs after you’ve passed if you did not formulate an estate plan. No one document can be the solution to every possible issue that can arise after you have died, but a last will and testament is the closest thing to that.
Some people may think that you have to be wealthy or have a large amount of assets in order to need a last will and testament, but this is not true. There are many good reasons to have a will and almost everyone can benefit from having one. But when writing your will, you need to be clear about who is to receive which assets. You get to decide who receives what items or funds, and how much. If you prefer, you can keep assets away from certain people that you don’t want to have them, such as an estranged relative.
By having an estate plan, your beneficiaries can receive their assets faster and more smoothly compared to if you were not prepared at all. With a will, you can also make it a point to save estate money from taxes. As your lawyer can discuss, like wills lawyer Knoxville, TN families trust from Carpenter & Lewis PLLC, you can plan to give charitable donations and gifts, which can help offset any estate taxes.
To increase the chances that your wishes will be followed after you pass away, you will need to write a testamentary will. This is the most common type of will, where you prepare a document and then sign it while in the presence of witnesses. This kind of will is probably the best insurance in avoiding complaints being filed against your estate by business associates or family members after you die. You can develop a testamentary will by yourself, but it’s helpful to have a legal team review it, like a lawyer from Carpenter & Lewis PLLC, to ensure that you have not made any mistakes or left out necessary information.
A will allows you to choose how your belongings, tangible and intangible property, shall be distributed to those you care about the most upon your death. You can specify who is to receive which assets, and at what time or age they are to be distributed. Some people choose to communicate with beneficiaries about what is written in their estate plan, so that any potential disputes can be resolved beforehand. It may be good to let your beneficiaries know what is in the will and that they can expect to receive something in the future. How much you decide to reveal about your estate plan is up to you, but you may want to at least let beneficiaries know these documents exist and where copies of them can be found when the time comes.
