This book is for people who want to make a basic will -- nothing complex, no
frills, just a valid will that does the job. It is for people who want to leave
their property outright (no strings attached) when they die. The key to doing
this is simplicity.
If you've bought this book, you probably know that a will is a legal document
where you specify which people and organizations will receive which of your
property after you die. You may also use a will to name an adult to be
responsible for your minor children's personal care and finances.
Following the step-by-step instructions in this book, you can create your own
basic will that:
- leaves your property to the people and organizations you choose
- names someone to care for your minor children
- names someone to manage property you leave to minor children, including
your own children, and
- names your executor, the person with authority to make sure that the terms
of your will are carried out.
Who Can Use a Basic Will?
By and large, people who need only a basic will are under age 50 and own
property worth less than the threshold limit for federal estate taxes -- $1
million in 2003, $1.5 million in 2004, rising to $3.5 million in 2009. (See
Chapter 6, Section C for a discussion of estate taxes.) As one grows older, a
basic will may not be the most economical and efficient method for passing your
property. Certain types of more sophisticated planning may be desirable, which
generally aren't called for with younger people. (See Section B, below, for more
on this topic.)
This book contains five sample will forms that are valid in every state and
Washington, DC, with the exception of Louisiana (which has unique laws governing
wills). These will forms have been carefully prepared to keep your work to a
manageable amount.
About Probate and Taxes
You've probably heard of probate and know it has a dubious reputation (well
earned). In probate, the will of a person who died is filed with a court, and
property is located and gathered by an estate executor. Debts and taxes still
owed are paid, and the remaining property is distributed as the will directs.
Most property passed by will must go through probate.
Probate certainly has drawbacks. It can be lengthy, commonly taking a year or
more. It can also be expensive, normally requiring the services of lawyers and
perhaps other specialists. However fees for these experts are determined (they
vary by state), payment will always come out of property you intended for family
and friends.
The good news is that people whose situations warrant a basic will have
little reason to concern themselves now with probate. People using basic wills
are usually relatively young. Their real concern is to make legal arrangements
for the statistically unlikely event that they die suddenly and unexpectedly.
Yes, with a will there is a risk that their property may end up in probate, but
accepting that risk is, for most younger people, preferable to creating complex
and often costly estate plans many years or decades before they're likely to
come into play. (See Chapter 6, Sections A and B for more about probate and
common ways to avoid it.)
Similarly, because most young people don't have large amounts of property,
they can usually safely wait to consider whether they need to make plans to save
on federal estate taxes.
If your net worth is $1 million or more. Your estate consists of the
net worth of all the property you own when you die, in whatever form of
ownership. Net worth is the market value of the property, less any amounts owed
on it. While all estates are (theoretically) subject to federal estate taxes,
the personal estate tax exemption allows a set dollar amount of property to be
transferred free of tax. For 2003, the exempt amount is $1 million, and for
2004, it is $1.5 million; this amount will gradually rise to $3.5 million for
2009. I use the term estate tax threshold to mean the range of exempt amounts,
from $1 million to $3.5 million.
People with estates above the estate tax threshold should consider estate
planning beyond the scope of this book. If your property, whether
individually or combined as a couple, exceeds the estate tax threshold, you may
be able to save large amounts of money from the tax man by using more
sophisticated planning methods than preparing a basic will. The rudiments of
estate tax planning are discussed in Chapter 6, Section C.
Can You Safely Use This Book?
Let me reassure you here at the start that preparing a basic will is not hard
for most people. Some lawyers routinely use scare tactics designed to frighten
people into believing that preparing a will is such a complex, technical process
that no non-lawyer dare risk it. This is nonsense. Pause for a moment and
consider what a basic will actually is and does. In essence, a basic will is a
document used to transfer your own property to whomever you want to get it after
you die. What's hard about that? Indeed, in most societies, including other
Western cultures, the will-writing and transfer process is routine, without the
necessity for lawyers or courts.
This book, and the will forms it contains, will enable most readers to
prepare a basic will without having to pay for a lawyer. The heart of the
will-making process consists of deciding who gets what. If your desires are
clear and uncomplicated, you can make your own will.
Take a common situation, where both members of a married couple want to leave
their property to the other spouse. If that spouse isn't alive, then all
property is to be divided equally between their kids. What the couple wants can
be said in two sentences. Why should accomplishing their straight forward desire
in a valid legal document be so difficult that an expert must be paid? This book
is based on the truth that there's no reason to involve a costly expert if a
will writer's desires are direct and uncomplicated.
Now let's look at a few real-life situations where a basic will from this
book will work fine.
Example 1: Nyrit and Jerome, in their 30s, own a home (although it
sometimes seems that the bank owns it), two cars and some savings. Their net
estate totals $170,000. They have one child, Mark, age 12. Each prepares a
will leaving all his or her property to the other. If they die together, Mark
is to receive all their property. Nyrit and Jerome agree that Nyrit's brother
Iraz will care for Mark and manage the property until Mark turns
18.
Example 2: Sam, a widower, owns property with a net worth of
$360,000. He has three adult children. He creates a will leaving all his
property equally to his children. He specifies that if any child dies before
him, that child's share is to be divided equally between the surviving
children.
Example 3: Barbara is a single mother with two teenaged children and
an estate totalling $95,000. Though she's not on amicable terms with her
ex-husband, she does admit he tries to be a decent father ("within his
self-absorbed limits") and does pay child support payments more or less on
time. Barbara prepares a will leaving all her property equally to her
children. Because Barbara does not want her husband managing money left to her
children if she dies, she uses her will to appoint her sister Debbie to manage
each child's property until that child turns 18.
Real Life
In the face of the intense emotional force and mystery of death, preparing a
will may seem minor. Although this is not a philosophical or spiritual book, I
want to acknowledge that the emotional realities involved in a death are
profound. But however one chooses to deal with death spiritually or
philosophically, there are practical issues that must be confronted. A will is
the easiest way to handle the most important of these practical matters,
transferring property.
It's also important to acknowledge that the process of writing a will is more
than a practical necessity. Deciding who you want to receive your property after
your death can be a significant process. The peace of mind one achieves by
preparing a will -- having one thing on that nagging list of "really should be
dones" behind you -- is very real and satisfying. Certainly it's no denigration
of death, or life, for you to be concerned with the wisest and most desirable
distribution of your property.
In spite of this, the unfortunate reality is that many Americans still don't
have a will. Why not? No one knows for sure, but here are my hunches:
- Lack of reliable information. The legal establishment has managed
to mystify the process of writing a will. People are fearful of making
mistakes by doing it themselves or don't know they can prepare their own will.
In fact, no law requires that a will be drafted or approved by a lawyer.
- Cost. People understandably resist paying a hunk of money to a
lawyer for what their intuition tells them shouldn't be a difficult or
complicated task.
- Superstition. Some people fear that just thinking about the
practical consequences of one's death could somehow hasten death's arrival. We
know better, right?
- Good old procrastination. For anyone with loved ones, it's
certainly a bad idea to risk dying without a will, which leaves the
distribution of one's estate for state law to determine. (This is called
"dying intestate.")