| Doing my own 'Last Will and Testment' Can I do this.....?? |
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raemart
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| Doing my own 'Last Will and Testment' Can I do this.....?? |
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Hello, my IRA, Roth and personal brokeage accounts have designated beneficiaries and contingents so they are not in question upon my demise(long way out, I hope). However, homes and bank accounts need a completed 'Last Will and Testment' in order not to go into probate, correct? My question... is there a way to have designated beneficiaries on homes and bank accounts like we have with 401K's, Roth, IRAs and personal brokerage accounts?
I am making a will out now for homes, bank accounts and personal belongings etc, etc. I downloaded hard-copy will papers from my U.S. state and will have it notarized.
Can I write in the appropriate areas of the will..."Any and all possessions go to ___________" ?
Can I write........ "Any and all powers given to________________" ?
Can I write....... "Any items or possessions I can not think of go to _________________" ?
Can I write a personal rider into the will each time I acquire new possessions? Getting ready for a new car and looking for a second home in another state.
I am not interested in going to an attorney as yet as any additional possessions I acquire, the 'Will' will have to be changed each time and I still have alot of living to do! Thanks for all your help on this wonderful forum!
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Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:39 pm |
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blixet
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| Re: Doing my own 'Last Will and Testment' Can I do this.... |
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quote:
Originally posted by raemart
Hello, my IRA, Roth and personal brokeage accounts have designated beneficiaries and contingents so they are not in question upon my demise(long way out, I hope). However, homes and bank accounts need a completed 'Last Will and Testment' in order not to go into probate, correct? My question... is there a way to have designated beneficiaries on homes and bank accounts like we have with 401K's, Roth, IRAs and personal brokerage accounts?
Bank accounts can be Pay On Death or POD. Then the assets pass to the named beneficiary outside of probate.
Your home can pass by title: Joint Tenancy, Tenants in Common, Community Property, etc, depending on the state. This may or may not be what you need to accomplish your transfer goals. You can also set up a revocable trust and re-title your home into the trust which would avoid probate.
Can't comment on specific language within a will.
Information is more valuable sold than used – Fischer Black
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Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:46 pm |
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raemart
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Thank you for your prompt answer! I called my credit union and I have had a Pay On Death(POD) with them since 1986. Next year will be 30 years! This was before my marriage and I had my father as my designee. He passed in 1996. The credit union representative said that they do not follow a will but only what the member indicates as their 'Pay On Death'. This means a POD trumps the will. Thank you, thank you! So surprised my credit union has never prompted their members(me) for current beneficiaries or updates of some kind!?? Wow! Thank you! Will get that updated immediately! 
P.S. Now if they could just do a POD on homes and cars!
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Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:02 am |
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Wino
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You can get a state-specific will kit for about $30 online. I can give a website, but I don't want you to think this is spam, so I'll demur on that point. You get the form, fill it out, print it, then go to a notary public and have it attested (stamped). That's it, and it will be 100% legal.
Tell someone - usually someone named as the executor or at least a beneficiary - where you store the will and you're set. Be very wary of "free" will forms online. The $30 is a cheap investment to make things easy for your beneficiaries.
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Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:27 am |
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raemart
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Thanks, I got a state-specific kit for about the same amount $29 thru Dave Ramsay's group. I have a legacy box ready to go. It has all my accounts there; IRA's, Roth, personal brokerage, several life insurance policies. Just need to get the will completed and notarized and POD readied. Thank you all for your help!
Will investigate Joint Tenacy, Tenants in Common on my homes soon. Thanks!
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Thu Jan 29, 2015 5:31 am |
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GardenCat
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Location: Colorado
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Hello
Wills:
You can have an addendum to a will that you can change whenever you want without having to change the entire will. The addendum can cover things like "I want my $2,000 Armani Suit to go to my grandchild Max" or however you want to pass on your "things".
Your will most likely will require an "executor". That person should be someone with whom you have intimate trust to do things as you want them to be done. AND you and that person should talk about it ALL!
Also, anyone that you are willing things to should be made aware of what your wishes are.
Too many families, seemingly well adjusted adult relatives of the deceased, come to legal blows over misunderstandings around the money involved and what the deceased wishes were, and end up never talking to one another again, and the lawyers get most of the money...
Be careful about joint tenancy and other ways of "group titleing" of properties. When someone inherits a house in a will, they will almost always get a "stepped up" valuation on the property (it's value at the time of death of the deceased, rather than the value when the deceased bought it). If a co-owner (say a child) inherits the full ownership of a property (their parent's house) upon the other co-owners death, the valuation will likely be the original (parent's) purchase value or the value upon the "co-ownership" date... This has quite significant capital gains tax implications upon the sale of the property!
Oftentimes it is worth a hundred bucks or two for legal advice to insure you are doing the right thing that will get you what you want.
Good Luck,
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Thu Jan 29, 2015 5:38 pm |
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CrisAdams
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Payable-on-death bank accounts is an easy way to keep money -- even large sums of it -- out of probate. All you need to do is fill out a simple form, provided by the bank, naming the person you want to inherit the money in the account at your death.
There are also transfer-on death deeds. These transfer-on-death deeds must be prepared, signed, notarized and recorded (filed in the county land records office) just like a regular deed. But unlike a regular deed, you can revoke a transfer-on-death deed. The deed must expressly state that it does not take effect until death.
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Wed Feb 04, 2015 3:02 pm |
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