Wills

[Chaoster]

Anyone know how to go about setting up a will? Are there any good free online sites?

 

[akcire]

Anyone know how to go about setting up a will? Are there any good free online sites?

No.

If you have money to leave to someone or minor children you can afford to get a lawyer. Depending on your asset pool, you may need a trust.

Write a list of your assets, and figure out where you would like all your assets to go at your death. If you need a basic will you can get it done inexpensively at a lawyers office. If you are low income there are clinics that can help you get it done for free or for a nominal fee, think $10.

Low income clinics are often affiliated with law schools, but you can google to find one in your state. The key is to have it done by someone within your state as laws/lingo can vary.

 

[SSRFred]

Again, no.

There is good software out there, though. NOLO is a good place to start.

But, and this is a very big BUT, writing the Will is not necessarily the difficult part. Depending on where you live, the laws of execution of Wills can be complicated. You don't want to save a few dollars now and have your family find out later that your Will is invalid because you did not know the law and didn't follow the formalities of signing the Will the way the law states.

If you have assets to distribute, and/or minor children to protect, the best advice is to have a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in this.

 

[NYEmomma]

Legalzoom does wills online but I'm not sure how good the service is.

I've been wanting to do one ever since DD was born... we have no assets worth enough to worry about, our life insurance policies already designate her as the beneficiary if we're both gone, but I do want to specify who "gets" her if we were to both die. It really, really, REALLY bothers me that right now there's a possibility that one of DH's family members could possibly get custody of her if we were to die.

Maybe once the twins are born we'll get off our butts and get one put together.

 

[Darcy03231]

Here's a third NO. Having worked in a law firm that does wills, trusts and probates estates you have no idea how many "self-done" wills I've seen that are done completely wrong and don't follow our state's laws. The heirs/beneficiaries end up spending much more time and money trying to get everything settled than it would have cost to have a lawyer do it right in the first place.

 

[akcire]

Legalzoom does wills online but I'm not sure how good the service is.

I've been wanting to do one ever since DD was born... we have no assets worth enough to worry about, our life insurance policies already designate her as the beneficiary if we're both gone, but I do want to specify who "gets" her if we were to both die. It really, really, REALLY bothers me that right now there's a possibility that one of DH's family members could possibly get custody of her if we were to die.

Maybe once the twins are born we'll get off our butts and get one put together.

I would tell everyone this is what I wanted for Christmas, if you don't have the money. Having one child with 2 on the way, there is no single gift you could get that would be more important.

I can't imagine my children going to DCFS. Also even though your life insurance money would go to your daughter, if "crazy 4X bankrupt gambling uncle sam" is the person who the courts deem the best fit to care for her, he will control her money. I would never want to see my daughter's assets handled by someone in our family who has less than desirable habits.

Our trust stipulates who would physically care for our daughter and who would care for our daughter's money. In our situation the best person to care for her on a daily basis, also happens to be bad with money (not gambling bad, just spend every dollar they make because they are relying on their teachers pension in old age bad).

Since we have a large amount of life insurance, and we need it to see our daughter through college--our day to day guardian is not the financial guardian. She will get $4300 a month from social security, plus an additional monthly amount determined at the time of our death by the person in charge of the finances. Also any large amounts needed for her care will be covered by asking the financial guardian. For example, if she needed to attend private school, or go to a fancy expensive camp, or needed an expensive musical instrument. I want the money to be protected for my daughter, but at the same time I don't want her to miss out on anything if the money is available.

We had a hard time figuring out who in our family would be capable of caring for one child, I can't imagine trying to plan for 3. An extra 3 children would most likely mean that the person caring for the children would need to move to a larger house and almost certainly need a larger car.

 

[bbarba]

I recommend to everyone to see a lawyer who specializes in estate planning. We are lucky in central NY to have a great law firm that is all that they do. We had as great experience that could be had given what we were doing, and we feel that we protected our children should the worst happen. We keep telling our friends to do the same, but they drag their feet.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Legalzoom does wills online but I'm not sure how good the service is.

I've been wanting to do one ever since DD was born... we have no assets worth enough to worry about, our life insurance policies already designate her as the beneficiary if we're both gone, but I do want to specify who "gets" her if we were to both die. It really, really, REALLY bothers me that right now there's a possibility that one of DH's family members could possibly get custody of her if we were to die.

Maybe once the twins are born we'll get off our butts and get one put together.

PLEASE do it now. If there is any chance that someone you do not want to raise your children could be the ones to get guardianship, you need to hire a lawyer and take care of it now. With our oldest child, we did it as soon as he was born! Our 5 year old is a much more difficult situation but we hired a lawyer to spell out exactly what we needed to happen and NOT happen just in case. I think it was like 200-250. Make it a Christmas gift to each other. Peace of mind is sooo worth.

 

[harleyquinn]

How does one start the search for a lawyer to do this?

 

[akcire]

How does one start the search for a lawyer to do this?

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Assoication has a referral system

http://www.clemetrobar.org/LRS.aspx

This will only ensure you are hiring a lawyer who is liscensed and in good standing with the bar assoication.

Personally to find a good estate lawyer, I would ask friends and familly. You may also have legal resourses as a benefit of you job. You could ask your HR department. If you know someone who works in a trust department at a bank they can usually give you some good referrals.

 

[harleyquinn]

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Assoication has a referral system

http://www.clemetrobar.org/LRS.aspx

This will only ensure you are hiring a lawyer who is liscensed and in good standing with the bar assoication.

Personally to find a good estate lawyer, I would ask friends and familly. You may also have legal resourses as a benefit of you job. You could ask your HR department. If you know someone who works in a trust department at a bank they can usually give you some good referrals.

You are very sweet! I would have just sent me to Let Me Google That For You.

I will ask relatives for a recommendation. I need to get this done. Thanks so much!

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I would tell everyone this is what I wanted for Christmas, if you don't have the money. Having one child with 2 on the way, there is no single gift you could get that would be more important.

I can't imagine my children going to DCFS. Also even though your life insurance money would go to your daughter, if "crazy 4X bankrupt gambling uncle sam" is the person who the courts deem the best fit to care for her, he will control her money. I would never want to see my daughter's assets handled by someone in our family who has less than desirable habits.

Our trust stipulates who would physically care for our daughter and who would care for our daughter's money. In our situation the best person to care for her on a daily basis, also happens to be bad with money (not gambling bad, just spend every dollar they make because they are relying on their teachers pension in old age bad).

Since we have a large amount of life insurance, and we need it to see our daughter through college--our day to day guardian is not the financial guardian. She will get $4300 a month from social security, plus an additional monthly amount determined at the time of our death by the person in charge of the finances. Also any large amounts needed for her care will be covered by asking the financial guardian. For example, if she needed to attend private school, or go to a fancy expensive camp, or needed an expensive musical instrument. I want the money to be protected for my daughter, but at the same time I don't want her to miss out on anything if the money is available.

We had a hard time figuring out who in our family would be capable of caring for one child, I can't imagine trying to plan for 3. An extra 3 children would most likely mean that the person caring for the children would need to move to a larger house and almost certainly need a larger car.

ITA! Please get a trust ASAP. If something were to happen to you the courts would decide who would get cutody of your children and they could even wind up in a foster care situation until the manner is resolved. Relatives will come out of the woodwork wanting to take care of your children when they know that the child is a beneficary on life insurance. I am not insulting your family, truly, but when it comes to the combination of money and death people will often shock you with their behavior. If several people wanted control, custody can take a long time to settle......

 

[Gigi22]

OP, not sure how it will work in your state--but if you don't have a will, you likely don't have a power of attorney either. You should look into getting your power of attorney (POA) documents (we have 2, one for health and one for finance) set up too. Our lawyer offered a set rate for a will and both POAs. The POAs are mainly to ensure that you are taken care of in the event you become non-responsive/unable to communicate and decisions must be made to ensure your care and that bills are paid. POAs are void once the person dies, so they do not replace a will--they are in addition to a will.

 

[bettymae1121]

If you have any assets at all, look into setting up a trust in addition to a will. My grandmother just passed this year and only had a simple will. Her estate wasn't worth all that much, low six figures between her home and her savings. It will be at least 12 months minimum before my aunt and uncle see a dime, it takes that long to probate a will in our state, the average is more like 18 months to 2 years! My aunt and uncle (my mother's brother and sister - mom passed a few years ago so she's out of the inheritance picture) don't need the money badly or anything, but still that's a long time to have an estate tied up in legal limbo.

Conversly, my father's estate is in a trust and upon his passing, my brother's and I will get our split of the estate instantly, it doesn't have to go through the courts.

 

[Chaoster]

Thanks, very informative.

 

[furb & dez]

Adding to the chorus of NOs.

If you have cash or anything of value to leave to your family, you should consult an attorney. Wills are not DIY territory, unless you want to leave your family a real mess (and possibly a great deal more in legal fees and headaches than if you had just coughed up a few bucks for a decent attorney).

when it comes to the combination of money and death people will often shock you with their behavior.

This.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I just closed my mom's estate today. My dad died a few years ago. I am SOOOO thankful that they had done everything possible to make it as easy as it could be. A lawyer can not only draw up a will, he can advise you on how to list beneficiaries on back accounts, savings account and other things to make it simple to handle an estate. They can also, within the limits of the law, create documents that address unique situations. I have a medical power of attorney for our five year old and within the next year our lawyer will be drawing up other papers that will allow me to make all guardian decisions. The cost is soooo worth it.