Most People Are Aware Of The Main Reasons To Get A Will.
It’s an important document where you gift your assets to your beneficiaries on your death. You might think that if your Estate is “simple” that you don’t need a Will but there are numerous other reasons that you may wish to reconsider.
Here Are A Couple Such Reasons:
1) Young Children.
Aside from leaving assets to your children your Will is also the place where you can make two other important decisions for your kids. The first is appointing a Guardian to care for them until they reach age 18. Without this designation it can lead to a fight between two sides of the family who may otherwise qualify equally at law. The second reason is that you may want to establish a trust for the assets so that your children do not receive the funds until they reach an age that is greater than 18, such as 21 or 25.
2) Special Requests.
Your Will can also contain special instructions with respect to organ donation, funeral requests, and information about whether you would like to be buried or cremated. Setting out these decisions can alleviate stress from your family members in an already trying time.
3) Information Gathering.
Having a Will might actually help your family avoid the Probate process. We meet with people all the time who are looking to plan and set up their affairs to avoid Probate altogether to save both costs and time for the family. Although this is not always possible, one tool that is often overlooked is the Will itself. Even if you are planning to avoid Probate, oftentimes your Personal Representative or family members will need to make inquiries at your bank or investment institution. Without a Will these entities will often not give you any information but with a Will they will typically respond and let you know what accounts exist and what amounts they contain. This can assist your family in making important strategic decisions about how to proceed with your Estate and can often save time and money.
– Chestermere Law
