A last will and testament is a legal document that gives specifications on who inherits your cars, jewelry, real estate bank accounts and other property after you die and the terms surrounding that inheritance. You can do it however you want, such as leaving everything you own to a single person or dividing it into specific portions that you distribute to people. Your sister, for example, could inherit your cookbook collection while your best friend inherits your sweaters. A will is much more than this, however, besides distributing your property. As a mother, a will helps you ensure the future of your children.
Choose the Guardian for Your Children
Making a will as a parent is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your children are taken care of by people that you trust to do the job if anything were to happen to you. You can designate such a person in your will as the legal guardian for your children if you die before your children attain the age of legal adulthood. You can designate a guardian for your property or a trustee who undertakes the task of managing the property you have bequeathed to your children until they reach adulthood. You can have one person to be the guardian to your children as well as the property they inherit, or you can have two different people carrying out the separate roles.
Appoint an Executor for Smooth Distribution of Property
Also, if you would like everything to be handled in a smooth manner and your property distributed among your beneficiaries in the most timely fashion, you can appoint an executor for your will. This is the person that pays your taxes and debts after you have passed on and then makes sure that your remaining estate goes into the correct hands, which are those of the people you have chosen in your will.
A will can be sued for a variety of purposes, such as including a living will or health care directive to state your preferences when it comes to such matters as life support, making specific funeral arrangements, donating organs and making charitable contributions.
Noteworthy Considerations
A word of warning, however: there are certain assets which have beneficiary forms that the courts give priority to over your will. These include your individual retirement accounts and life insurance policy. For these forms, the people who you named as beneficiaries are the ones to receive the funds in the accounts when you die, regardless of who you named as beneficiaries in your will. Make sure to align the beneficiaries you name in your will with those named in these accounts.
When you die without a will, you have virtually no guarantee that your property will go the people you would like it to go to. You also have no guarantee that your children will get the care you want them to have. In some states, the state-appointed administrator becomes in charge of your children’s inheritance until they attain legal adulthood, which means your spouse may find it difficult to access the money they need to raise the children. To avoid this, it is essential that you prepare a will early in advance, so your children are taken care of
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