Legal will preparation does not end when you put your signature at the bottom of the page. The will is a dynamic document and may have to be modified and changed from time to time to reflect changing circumstances in the testator’s life. Whether you have decided to download a legal will or have a lawyer draw it up for you, you need to be prepared to continually review it and make modifications as changing times may dictate.
Obviously legal will preparation revolves around the disposal of your property and assets after your death. That is what the aim of a will is. But legal will preparation involves making sure that your wishes are carried out exactly as you desire. This means that besides making the bequests, legal will preparation involves two main issues – nominating an executor and being prepared to modify the will as time passes and situations change.
Your legal will preparation may have been flawless, but unless the executor you have chosen is the right person for the job, your wishes may not be carried out in the way you want them. That is why finding the right executor is so crucial to legal will preparation. The executor must be someone whom you can trust implicitly as he or she will have to be authorized to spend money from your estate – there will be funeral expenses, legal fees, tax liabilities and other debts to be met. The executor must be someone who understands what the job involves and have the competence to carry it out as per your wishes. Part of your legal will preparation will be to identify the executor and, if possible, obtain his or her consent for undertaking the role.
Simple though this question may sound, it is a vital element of legal will preparation. Stories of lost wills and inheritances are not all urban legends. It is best to keep your will in a bank or in a safe deposit box. Inform the executor of where the will is and provide proper authorization for the executor to retrieve your will upon your death. Your bank will be able to help you in this.
Your “last” will and testament may be subject to change. An important aspect of legal will preparation is being ready to modify your will as circumstances demand. The reasons for the changes you make could be many – marriage or divorce, birth or death of a child or other beneficiary, a changed relationship with a beneficiary, a change in the executor, either through death or for any other reason and so on. Other reasons could be a change in the size of your estate, a move to another state with different laws or a change in state or federal laws that affect the disposal of your property. Legal will preparation must take all these factors into account and you must be ready to make changes to your will as circumstances change. The number of people who have done a great legal will preparation exercise and then realized on their deathbed that they never made the changes they planned to is beyond even rough estimates.
