What Constitues A Will

A will is perhaps one of the most important legal documents that can serve as protection to your money, assets, and other properties. However, some people do not immediately realize its significance, most especially since wills can get complicated in terms of writing, processing, etc. 

As mentioned, a will is a legal document that outlines where all your valuable assets will go after you die. There are actually many different types of wills, but most are generally called ‘simple wills.’ 

Oftentimes, people confuse a will from a trust, and this should not be the case. There is a clear distinction between these two. The main difference is that a trust includes the details on how your assets are owned and transferred before the time of your death. In a trust, there is no need to go through a probate court first in order to transfer the property when the testator dies. This is, of course, only applicable if the one who made the trust is the property’s legal owner. In addition, a trust does not give specific directives over one’s assets. Unlike a will, a trust will automatically distribute all your assets to the stipulated beneficiaries. 

Simply put, a will is ideally made to indicate the recipients of a person’s assets as well as how these will be specifically distributed to them. It is made up of a bequest describing how the properties will be handed out to the person’s spouse, children, brothers, or grandchildren. Wills include specific instructions on how a certain property is to be divided and to whom. For instance, you might want your car to go to your daughter or best friend, or perhaps, donate some funds to a charity. These things will be indicated in a will.

 There is another addition to a will called a ‘letter of instructions.’ As the name implies, the letter details how certain tasks are to be performed upon the person’s death. For instance, the letter would state arrangements on the disposal of old documents and files, or the maintenance of a ranch or a vacation house. Although letters of instruction are not really ‘legal’ per se, these are still important. Nonetheless, assets that are deemed to be highly valuable to the owner should be stated in wills, and not in letters of instruction. 

Furthermore, the people involved in a will are the following: 

• Testator – the one writing the will
• Beneficiaries – the specific recipients of the testator’s assets
• Executor – a person (usually an attorney) appointed by the testator to handle the responsibility of distributing the assets to the rightful beneficiaries

What is the process of making a will?

Oftentimes, writing a will can be complicated. An attorney is usually hired to help in making the will. However, if you do not have the means to get an attorney, you can usually find standard forms, online software, and even Do-It-Yourself Will Kit to draw your own will. A drawback of not hiring an attorney, though, is that you might miss or overlook laws that govern your state of residence. If this happens, your will might not be validated.