You never know which day is your last, so if you want your assets to go to loved ones rather than ending up at an estate sale, you need to write a will. Explore the most important things to include in your will to make sure that you don’t leave anything out.
Personal Information
You’ll have to start your will by listing your personal information; you need to write out your full legal name, address, and date of birth. You also can include any nicknames to help clear up any confusion. Also, it would help if you listed the names of any spouses, children, or other immediate family members of importance.
Intent
To make your will a legally binding contract, it must have this phrase, “This is my last will and testament.” This statement clearly states the document’s intent.
Your Assets and the Beneficiaries
You’ll dedicate a majority of your will to the listing and dividing of your assets among the beneficiaries. You can blanket all your assets to one person, request to have it liquidated and divided by percentage, or split up individual assets, like your home or cars, to different recipients. How you divide your estate up is your decision. Just make sure you don’t leave out anything, or else your will could end up in probate court.
Executor
You’ll also need to list who your executor will be. The executor will be the one responsible for carrying out the intent of the document, so you’ll want to pick someone you trust. Often, people choose a family member, but you also can hire a lawyer. You’ll need to budget for their fees in your estate.
Funeral Plans/Requests
Along with how you want to divide your assets, you also can make requests for how your family plans the funeral. You can ask for any particular ideas or funeral plans. However, a funeral request in a will isn’t legally binding like the rest of the document; it’s an easy way to make sure you express your wishes.
Signature
The other thing you’ll need to include to make the document binding is to sign it in front of a witness. If the signature and will are handwritten, you can sometimes get away without a witness, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Now that you’ve learned the most important things to include in your will, you can write a thorough document that doesn’t forget anyone significant to you.
