Make A Will

 

When it Comes Down to Wills and Trusts Don't Be Naive - Family Dynamics Change Quickly
By Lance Winslow Platinum Quality Author

 

 

 

 

Indeed, most families believe that when their parents die that the kids will get along, divide up everything, and everything will be fine, and in a few rare cases that's true, but that is not the common occurrence. What usually happens is one of the offspring's is upset with the deal, wants their money given to them in a lump sum, or another offspring that is put in charge of distribution, likes to take a little bit more than they're supposed to, and they always have all sorts of justifications for doing so. And if you think this can happen in your family, the statistics are very much against you.

In fact, it usually happens in families that think it won't, even more than families that believe it might. What I'd recommend to you, and I can't stress this enough, is that you get everything in order, make sure the Wills, and Trusts are updated, and also realize that the laws change often enough, meaning you had better stay up with things, or you'll end up paying way more taxes than you had anticipated, and in the end there will not be very much to divide up anyway.

You see, when it comes to trusts and Wills, you can be naive, and you must understand that family dynamics can change very quickly. Especially when you start adding in spouses, grandkids, and the lawyers, and let me tell you, probate is no fun; you don't want to go there. It is extremely important that you get with a financial planner, antitrust attorney, and work out all the details and put it all into writing.

What you do now could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars depending on the size of the estate and the associated taxes, and problems later. Just because your family gets along, and that you've always gotten along, doesn't mean those family dynamics will be intact after the folks die. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net. Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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Make Will

 

Advance Planning - The Advantages Of Living Wills
By Sharon Hurley Hall Platinum Quality Author

 

 

 

 

 

Nowadays, there are many treatments which offer patients with serious or terminal illnesses the chance to live longer. However, in some cases, these treatments may offer little or no chance of full recovery. They may have side effects that could be considered worse than the illness or leave the person in a condition he or she would find unbearable. You may feel strongly that you do not want to go through this
treatment to make you live longer. However, in the future you may not be physically or mentally able to make the decision or talk to your doctors about what you want, for example, if you were in a deep coma or suffered serious dementia. That's why you should consider an advance directive.

What is an Advance Directive?

An advance directive (often known as a Living Will or 'Advance Refusal') allows you to state which treatments you would or would not want if you became seriously ill in the future and could not say what you wanted to happen. Some people confuse the issue of refusing treatment under an advance directive with voluntary euthanasia. The two issues, although related, are separate. If you make an advance directive you are asking doctors not to give you certain medical treatments. Voluntary euthanasia is when you ask the doctor to deliberately end your life and is illegal in the UK.

What does a Living Will cover?

Through advance statements, patients have a legal right to decline specific treatment, including life-prolonging treatment. Patients cannot use advance statements to insist on the provision of certain treatments but they may authorise or refuse treatments.

Who is responsible for preparing an Advance Directive?

Drafting an advance statement is the patient's responsibility. If necessary seek advice from your general practitioner or health professional. It is the patient's responsibility to ensure that the existence of an advance statement is known to those who may be asked to comply with its provisions.

What if I can't express my wishes myself?

No person has a legal right to accept or decline treatment on behalf of another adult. However, the BMA recognises that the nomination of a health care proxy by the patient may be another helpful development in communicating the patient's views when the individual is no longer capable of expressing these.

Do doctors have to do what I say?

Doctors with a conscientious objection to curtailing treatment are not obliged to comply with an advance statement but must be ready to step aside. The British Medical Association (BMA) strongly supports the principle of an advance statement.

How do I get a Living Will?

Talk to your financial planner about drawing up your Living Will at the same time as preparing your Will. It is strongly recommended that patients review their advance statements at regular intervals, and destroy rather than amend the statement.

Want more tips on freelance writing, blogging and promotion? Visit Get Paid To Write Online for FREE information and resources which will kick start your writing career. Sharon Hurley Hall is a professional freelance writer, ghostwriter and blogger. Contact her now for well-written, timely web content writing.

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Online Wills

 

Your Indispensable Guide to Writing Wills
By Stephen G Hunt

When it comes to writing a will, many people are cowed by the perceived complexity of the process and the volume of legal jargon involved. Furthermore, contemplating death is not a pleasant experience and this is why many people delay writing a will until eventually it is too late.

Investing the time and effort to write a will, or the money if you get someone else to do it for you, is absolutely worthwhile for the stress that it will save your loved ones later.

The result of somebody dying without making a will is called intestacy, and in this scenario the fate of your money and possessions will end up at the mercy of the Administration of Estates Act of 1925. Consequently some things may end up in the hands of highly undesirable people. Furthermore, if you don't have any relatives your estate will effectively be gobbled up by the state.

Many married couples fall into the trap of believing that even without a will, everything will be automatically transferred to their partner upon death. It is in actuality quite misguided to expect the law to do everything for you, as well as foolish considering that you can have your wishes defined with precision by a will. In actual fact, in the case of married couples with children without a will the spouse only stands to inherit personal items and an initial £250,000, while the rest is divided into two halves. One half is handed over to the children when they
reach the age of 18, while the other can be benefited from by the spouse but cannot be spent, and the proceeds must be passed on to the children - e.g. a house can be lived in by the surviving spouse but must be passed on to the children on their death, or money goes into a savings account, allowing the spouse to make use of any money accrued through interest but leaving the initial savings intact for the children to inherit in future.

Couples that merely live together are on even more shaky ground, as upon one partner's death the other has no automatic right to inheritance without a will. As more and more modern couples are eschewing marriage, this makes the importance of wills even greater.

Something else you would be ill-advised to leave to the courts is the decision as to who would look after children in the event of both parents passing away. Setting this out in a will gives the reassurance that children will be looked after by a trustworthy guardian.

Your hands are severely tied without a will - if you do not have one then you will be unable to leave a donation to a charity or bequeath a treasured possession.

By now you should be convinced that writing a will is a necessity. If so, then your first consideration should probably be whom you nominate to perform the various roles relating to your will. Executors are the people invested with the responsibility of carrying out the instructions of the will, so it is vital that you elect someone trustworthy. Naturally the executor should also be expected to outlive the maker of the will.

Executors will ideally also be well-informed about financial matters, but many people prefer to choose a close acquaintance or relative and permit them to enlist the help of legal experts when necessary. Another protagonist in the process is the trustee, which is somebody who is there to safeguard part of an estate for the beneficiary to whom it will ultimately be conferred. An example of when a trustee would be called upon is where a property is left for a child too young to bear the burden of taking control of it. Other people needed are witnesses, who are required by law to oversee the signing of the will, as the name might suggest. The criteria that must be met by a witness are quite stringent - they cannot be a beneficiary or the spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary, nor can they be younger than 18 years old.

Once you have identified all of these people, the next thing you need to do is draw up a list of everything you own. Writing everything down will allow you to better visualize the extent of your estate and how best to divide it among your beneficiaries. Make sure that you are thorough and don't allow anything to slip your mind.

This list will also help the person you choose to write your will to identify any areas where tax could be saved. If you want a solid, incontrovertible and legally-binding will then you should hire a legal expert to do this for you. The average fee for such a service is around £200, which may sound steep, but due to the complexity and importance of will writing, it is probably a worthwhile investment. If possible,
find a solicitor who is well-versed in the pertinent fields of law, such as tax. However, make sure that you check first whether or not you qualify for Legal Aid either because of your financial situation or because you are over 70 years of age.

You may encounter do-it-yourself will forms sold either online or at the post office or at stationers. While they may be enticing because of the money saved, in reality people attempting to write wills for themselves are very susceptible to mistakes, which will cause a lot of hassle further down the line, and will be costly to amend. Others may be simply bamboozled by the dense technical jargon. Some purport to enable you to knock up a will in a matter of minutes, but wills are surely something which deserves far more care and attention than that.

For these reasons, it is advisable to hire a solicitor. It may be a lot more expensive but the peace of mind and alleviation of stress are more than worth it. To find a specialist will solicitor in your area go to the Law Society, which has an excellent Find a Solicitor service.

If you do hire a solicitor, ask them to send you a copy of their fees sheet so that you know what you will be paying in advance. Also demand a copy of their public liability insurance certificate.

With respect to other issues such as funeral arrangements and what you want to be done with your body, these are best left in a separate document called a wish list. If you keep this distinct from your will then it will be less cumbersome to modify later.

About the author: Stephen G Hunt is part of the News Team at Claims Financial.

Claims Financial are consumer law experts specializing in reclaiming unfair charges and offering free online legal advice.

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