If you have experience with WILL preparation . . . update

[aboveH20]

I work in a law firm and you have no idea how many "cheap" options end up not complying with state law and the estate ends up doing a lot more work at a much higher cost than if the person had just gone to a lawyer in the first place.

Any reputable firm will go to him. I've worked in the legal field for over 40 years and it's not uncommon for people to wait to make their arrangements.

I know you're right. I may call the law firm that handled my mother's estate and ask. I don't mind paying for it myself, I'm just trying to comply with the only request he made of me, which was to find out about wills and he preferred not to go through an attorney -- I assume for financial reasons. We didn't particularly care for the attorney who handled my mother's estate, but it looks like she's retired from the firm.

Can the witnesses also be beneficiaries? If yes, OP and her brother could complete the LegalZoom* will, then he can sign it and girlfriend and OP can witness.

*or FreeWill, which is free, but probably nobody has had experience with it.

I don't think witnesses are supposed to be beneficiaries. He wants to appoint me executrix so I think I can be a witness.

 

[Amii]

My father used a service like LegalZoom. He did see a lawyer about making a will after that but he passed away before he signed the will from the lawyer. Because of the way the LegaZoom will was worded one person named in the will received everything and the other two people named in the will got nothing.

I would see a lawyer and have a proper will made up. Most lawyers will go to to a client's home.

 

[starry_solo]

Wow, I can't believe the bar association has samples. I will check it out. Thank you so much for researching and posting the link. Unfortunately, time is of the essence.

If time is of the essence, then get an attorney that will travel to your brother and pay the required amount to do so. This attorney will need to visit at least twice. Once to get the information from your brother as to what his requests are and the second to have the will executed. Your brother (or you) should tell him that he also needs witnesses and see if the attorney can make arrangements for that as well.

The NYSBA (as will most bar associations in their respective states) will only post sample wills (for free or for sale) that meet the requirements of that particular state.

Here is one law firm in NY that posts requirements for wills:
https://www.connorsandsullivan.com/...nts-to-execute-a-valid-will-in-New-York.shtml

New York statute requires that the testator be at least 18 years old and of "sound mind and memory." The will must be in writing and both signed and witnessed in accord with legal requirements:

• Signing: Either the testator must sign the will him or herself or another person must sign in the testator's name as directed by the testator in the testator's presence. A person signing for the testator in this way must also sign the will and provide his or her address (although leaving the address off will not invalidate the instrument).
• Witnessing: At least two people must witness the signature, either when the testator signs the will or through an acknowledgement of the maker to each witness that the signature is the testator's. The witnesses sign their names on the will within 30 days of each other, along with their addresses (although omitting the address does not invalidate the will).
• Declaration: Some time during the will's execution and attestation the testator must tell each witness that the document the testator signed is indeed his or her will.

Regarding the requirement that the will maker be of sound mind and memory, also referred to as having testamentary capacity, a New York testator's mental capacity and memory does not have to be perfect. He or she can even suffer from a condition that could limit those powers like dementia and still be of sound enough mind to execute a valid will if he or she understands generally three things:

• The nature of the property he or she owns
• The natural objects of his or her bounty, meaning the people are who the testator would normally leave property to, usually closest relatives
• The property disposition being made

 

[imbatman]

Speaking from personal experience, my grandpa was in the hospital ER when my dad called a lawyer (as he was driving from 3 1/2 hours away) to go to the hospital. By the time my dad arrived, grandpa had everything spelled out. It took the office less than two hours to get the simple will (in Oregon) typed up and then they brought a notary to the ER. The expense was worth it, as he died two days later and my grandma had dementia (which they'd hid from the family for years). She actually challenged the will in court, which was so sad to watch due to dementia, and the will was upheld.

So, if it matters, the legal and more expensive way might be worth it, in my opinion.

 

[aboveH20]

My father used a service like LegalZoom. He did see a lawyer about making a will after that but he passed away before he signed the will from the lawyer. Because of the way the LegaZoom will was worded one person named in the will received everything and the other two people named in the will got nothing.

I would see a lawyer and have a proper will made up. Most lawyers will go to to a client's home.

If time is of the essence, then get an attorney that will travel to your brother and pay the required amount to do so. This attorney will need to visit at least twice. Once to get the information from your brother as to what his requests are and the second to have the will executed. Your brother (or you) should tell him that he also needs witnesses and see if the attorney can make arrangements for that as well.

The NYSBA (as will most bar associations in their respective states) will only post sample wills (for free or for sale) that meet the requirements of that particular state.

Here is one law firm in NY that posts requirements for wills:
https://www.connorsandsullivan.com/...nts-to-execute-a-valid-will-in-New-York.shtml

New York statute requires that the testator be at least 18 years old and of "sound mind and memory." The will must be in writing and both signed and witnessed in accord with legal requirements:

• Signing: Either the testator must sign the will him or herself or another person must sign in the testator's name as directed by the testator in the testator's presence. A person signing for the testator in this way must also sign the will and provide his or her address (although leaving the address off will not invalidate the instrument).
• Witnessing: At least two people must witness the signature, either when the testator signs the will or through an acknowledgement of the maker to each witness that the signature is the testator's. The witnesses sign their names on the will within 30 days of each other, along with their addresses (although omitting the address does not invalidate the will).
• Declaration: Some time during the will's execution and attestation the testator must tell each witness that the document the testator signed is indeed his or her will.

Regarding the requirement that the will maker be of sound mind and memory, also referred to as having testamentary capacity, a New York testator's mental capacity and memory does not have to be perfect. He or she can even suffer from a condition that could limit those powers like dementia and still be of sound enough mind to execute a valid will if he or she understands generally three things:

• The nature of the property he or she owns
• The natural objects of his or her bounty, meaning the people are who the testator would normally leave property to, usually closest relatives
• The property disposition being made

Speaking from personal experience, my grandpa was in the hospital ER when my dad called a lawyer (as he was driving from 3 1/2 hours away) to go to the hospital. By the time my dad arrived, grandpa had everything spelled out. It took the office less than two hours to get the simple will (in Oregon) typed up and then they brought a notary to the ER. The expense was worth it, as he died two days later and my grandma had dementia (which they'd hid from the family for years). She actually challenged the will in court, which was so sad to watch due to dementia, and the will was upheld.

So, if it matters, the legal and more expensive way might be worth it, in my opinion.

Thank you all. I just called the law office that handled my mother's estate and am awaiting a call back. I am happy (that doesn't sound right) to pay for it, but I don't know if he'd let me.

In Disney news, I canceled my upcoming trip.

 

[easyas123]

We used Legal Zoom in MD, and had our Financial Advisor, who is also a lawyer, check it out (he was curious as he had heard a lot about them and wanted to check a finished product) and he said what we got covered all the bases. Will, Advanced Directive/Living Will/P.O.A's

 

[afan]

Thank you all. I just called the law office that handled my mother's estate and am awaiting a call back. I am happy (that doesn't sound right) to pay for it, but I don't know if he'd let me.

In Disney news, I canceled my upcoming trip.

I would say in this case if he put you in charge of getting it done don't worry about whether he's ok with you paying for it or not. Since you are fine with paying for it and his wish is to get it done then focus on that part.

Sorry you had to cancel your trip, hopefully you can reschedule it soon so you have something to look forward to. I'm sure dealing with this in addition to also dealing with your brother being sick is hard.

 

[aboveH20]

We used Legal Zoom in MD, and had our Financial Advisor, who is also a lawyer, check it out (he was curious as he had heard a lot about them and wanted to check a finished product) and he said what we got covered all the bases. Will, Advanced Directive/Living Will/P.O.A's

I really appreciate your response given that you've had actual experience.

I would say in this case if he put you in charge of getting it done don't worry about whether he's ok with you paying for it or not. Since you are fine with paying for it and his wish is to get it done then focus on that part.

Sorry you had to cancel your trip, hopefully you can reschedule it soon so you have something to look forward to. I'm sure dealing with this in addition to also dealing with your brother being sick is hard.

I got a call back from the lawyer's office and they will go to his house and the hourly rate sounded reasonable to me. I sent my brother a text with the information and said, "Please let me pay for it." Ball's in his court.

Fortunately he didn't know about the trip. It was going to be a quickie to see Illumination one last time. Based on the time frame he's been given I suspect I'll still get to see Illuminations before it retires.

 

[SSRFred]

Can the witnesses also be beneficiaries? If yes, OP and her brother could complete the LegalZoom* will, then he can sign it and girlfriend and OP can witness.

*or FreeWill, which is free, but probably nobody has had experience with it.

A beneficiary should never be one of the witnesses.

 

[aboveH20]

In case any of you have been wondering, I thought I'd update with a non-update. I texted my brother yesterday about the local lawyer that would go to his house and that I'd like to pay for it. I haven't heard anything from him. He had his Hospice intake interview yesterday afternoon, and I can only imagine how sobering that is -- not that he needed any more reality checks.

When I hear from him I'll update, because I know how I hate following along in threads and then never hearing how the story ends.

Prayers always welcome.

 

[aboveH20]

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to post, and if you've offered a prayer, my gratitude for that as well.

For those following my soap opera . . . to my surprise my brother agreed to have the attorney visit and accepted my offer to pay. The woman went to his house this afternoon and he texted that it was good to get it started. It made me feel as though I'm doing something to help him, and I know a professionally done will will serve him better.

 

[Hook326]

I’m glad he accepted your offer but so sorry you and he are having to face this.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Good to hear that he is receptive and moving forward with this. I'm sorry you're going through this terrible time.

 

[aboveH20]

I’m glad he accepted your offer but so sorry you and he are having to face this.

Good to hear that he is receptive and moving forward with this. I'm sorry you're going through this terrible time.

Never under estimate the power of a kind word!

Thank you so much for expressing your concern. You can't imagine how comforting it is to be supported by "anonymous" people I don't even know.

 

[MrsPete]

We had a DIY type will for years, and we had talked about the fact that we're approaching retirement, and it was probably time for us to do something a little more "certain".
The very next week I was in the State Employees' Credit Union (not New York), and they had a big sign about offering help with wills /estate planning. I signed us up for an appointment.

We met with an estate planner (not lawyer), who asked us LOADS of questions, about half of which we had never considered. He discussed various options, and he gave lots of advice. We went home and talked about those questions.

About a month later we met the lawyer (in the Credit Union), and we gave him the answers we'd chosen. We discussed a few things, and he gave us some advice, but ultimately we made our own choices. That day he drew up our wills /a power of attorney /a medical living will for us.

I want to say it cost something like $300-400, but it's been 2-3 years, and I'm not completely sure that's true. I do know that I feel more secure with this will than I did with our DIY will. We definitely discussed all the right questions and made decisions with which we're both comfortable.

Off-topic: Around the same time we placed our adult daughters on all our bank accounts as "PODs" -- payable upon death beneficiaries. And we made them beneficiaries on all our life insurance, etc. Finally, we made up a notebook for each of them, giving them all the information they'd need to claim these monies /all in one place.

 

[aboveH20]

Thanks you for such detailed suggestions. Both of our adult sons live out of state and my brother was the last relative also in New York. We've started some of the prep we know we need to do, but especially with our kids out of the area we know we need to be more proactive in figuring out what happens when we need "old age" help.

 

[StarlitNight05]

I hope everything goes smoothly. So sorry you are going through this. Prayers to you and your family.

 

[barkley]

Thanks you for such detailed suggestions. Both of our adult sons live out of state and my brother was the last relative also in New York. We've started some of the prep we know we need to do, but especially with our kids out of the area we know we need to be more proactive in figuring out what happens when we need "old age" help.

if your sons live out of state it's important to find out how that impacts your estate planning if you haven't already done so. we were in a situation where we handled out of state estates in 2 different states. in one while it was a hassle and entailed multiple trips (b/c of waiting periods to do somethings vs others that had to be done in person) but it wasn't horrendous-in the other their laws said an out of state executor had to get someone who resided in state to co-execute. if the person making the will had known they could have done a few things to make it much more streamlined and avoid probate, they could have also named someone they knew in that state to serve in name only (allowed by the other state we dealt with). they didn't so in addition to legal fees we had to pay a professional 'co-executor' a stupid amount b/c that was our only option (something about the decedent being able to name an 'in name only' but it was conflict of interest for the named executor to choose one other than a pro-seemed like the legal community finding another way to make$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$).

 

[afan]

One thing to remember with executor and power of attorney etc is they don't need to be family. I heard a story from a lawyer that does wills etc of a couple that live on Puget Sound and their neighbors were power of attorney, they were friends and people they trusted. Couple goes on vacation to Europe, forgot to put the sun shades down on their huge living room windows and had a cat that loved to sun itself. Turns out the windows were pretty clean because an eagle smashed through one to try and get the cat, both the eagle and the cat were fine. The neighbors checking on the house saw the window and since they had power of attorney and had the necessary contact info were able to contact the insurance co and coordinate getting the window fixed all while the couple were still on vacation.

He uses this story to show why it's good to have someone nearby for power of attorney but also that it can be used for things other than just someone being in the hospital.

 

[aboveH20]

I hope everything goes smoothly. So sorry you are going through this. Prayers to you and your family.

Thank you. Knowing people hold my brother in prayer is very comforting.

if your sons live out of state it's important to find out how that impacts your estate planning if you haven't already done so. we were in a situation where we handled out of state estates in 2 different states. in one while it was a hassle and entailed multiple trips (b/c of waiting periods to do somethings vs others that had to be done in person) but it wasn't horrendous-in the other their laws said an out of state executor had to get someone who resided in state to co-execute. if the person making the will had known they could have done a few things to make it much more streamlined and avoid probate, they could have also named someone they knew in that state to serve in name only (allowed by the other state we dealt with). they didn't so in addition to legal fees we had to pay a professional 'co-executor' a stupid amount b/c that was our only option (something about the decedent being able to name an 'in name only' but it was conflict of interest for the named executor to choose one other than a pro-seemed like the legal community finding another way to make$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$).

Whoa. I did not know that. As I said a few posts back, my husband and I don't currently have a lawyer, First one disbarred, second one died. We have a will, but guess we need to review all of that stuff you don't want to think about. Thank you.

One thing to remember with executor and power of attorney etc is they don't need to be family. I heard a story from a lawyer that does wills etc of a couple that live on Puget Sound and their neighbors were power of attorney, they were friends and people they trusted. Couple goes on vacation to Europe, forgot to put the sun shades down on their huge living room windows and had a cat that loved to sun itself. Turns out the windows were pretty clean because an eagle smashed through one to try and get the cat, both the eagle and the cat were fine. The neighbors checking on the house saw the window and since they had power of attorney and had the necessary contact info were able to contact the insurance co and coordinate getting the window fixed all while the couple were still on vacation.

He uses this story to show why it's good to have someone nearby for power of attorney but also that it can be used for things other than just someone being in the hospital.

Interesting! And makes sense. Not only are our sons out of "town" (California and Texas) they don't exactly have jobs that would permit extended time off to deal with issues in New York.. Thanks for adding that perspective.