Wills for basic estate planning
By Barbara Kate Repa, Caring.com Senior Editor
While estate planning runs the gamut from a simple document or two to complicated setups with managed trusts and timed payouts, there are a number of common arrangements and documents to consider.
In a will, you can specify:
- What property you wish to leave to family, friends, and organizations.
- Who you wish to act as guardian and manage property for any dependent children.
- What person should act as a personal representative or executor to manage your estate at death, pay debts and taxes, and distribute remaining property as you specify.
- Whether you want to cancel any debts still owed to you at death.
- How outstanding debts and taxes should be paid.
A will is the most basic estate planning document there is -- and for some people, it represents the only estate planning they want or need to do.
A will alone, however, may not be sufficient to meet everyones' needs if they:
- Expect to owe estate taxes when either or both of them die -- which is most likely if they own property worth $2 million or more.
- Want to have some control over what happens to their property after their deaths, such as specifying that a house goes first to their children, then to their grandchildren (after their children die).
- Have any child who has a special need or disability, and they want to provide management for property that goes to him or her.
- Have children from one or more prior marriages who are likely to conflict with a current spouse.
- Fear that someone may claim their wills are invalid because they were mentally incompetent or subject to fraud or duress when writing them.
For those with such concerns, they should consider setting up a trust instead of or in addition to a will.
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