Who has a will here?

[tham53]

I am planning to have my own will. Any ideas on what are the things to consider?

[PNGMK]

I have a will and a way.

[martincymru]

Can I draft and manage my own Will? I want to modify regularly and don't want to go back forth every 5 minutes to a lawyer

[x9200]

I am planning to have my own will. Any ideas on what are the things to consider?

Gosh, first the bed bugs and now the will.
Moderator

[sundaymorningstaple]

I did the will for my previous employer's elderly father. After he passed on a couple of years ago (around 10 years after I made up the will) I got a call from the family lawyer. Wanted to know if I'd kept a copy of the will I'd drawn up (to confirm it's validity). I did and it passed muster and the will was administered. You can find basic boilerplate wills online and modify the contents to your needs. Worked okay.

[PNGMK]

^ you're a brave man. Mind you if it's straight forward ("I, SMS, leave everything I own to the Democrat Party") then ok but if you expect a contested situation it's much trickier - for example; ("I, SMS, leave everything to the Democrat Party and nothing to my wretched relatives") will not work because there are expectations (legally speaking) that dependents (wretched or not) need to be provided for and even non dependents need to have specific exclusions clauses, e.g. ("I, SMS, leave nothing to the Republican party as they have betrayed the trust of the American people").

[sundaymorningstaple]

Actually it was contested and that was the reason for the contact. One of the two sons was contesting the will (two sons, one of which was my boss) one of which was gay and the other straight. The eldest (the gay one) contested the will, but it was held up in court.

[malcontent]

One of my fiery university professors (he was from Syria) touched on this topic during one of the lectures. He said that if you really want to be sure that your wretched child doesn’t get anything when you pass away, make sure you expressly state in your will that you wish to leave them exactly one dollar. That will leave zero doubt about your proclivities, and make it almost impossible to contest.

[sundaymorningstaple]

^^^^Long story, but this I know for fact even though the will was eventually changed long before it needed to be read.

[malcontent]

It’s a similar concept when you get poor service at a restaurant in the US… you leave a one cent tip just to make sure they know you didn’t forget them!

[abbby]

Can I say LPA is also important...as impt as a will?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Depending on how simple your financials are here, you can possibly get by with the LPA. To me it's potentially more important than a will. (My point of view only)