Considerations for Making a Will

Before visiting your attorney to have a will drawn, there are questions you should ask yourself. The following are merely a sample. By answering these questions before you meet with your attorney, you will save time and money. Reviewing the answers with your attorney will ensure that you have covered everything.

Beneficiaries

• Who will be my beneficiaries?
• What percent of my estate do I want to go to each?
• What personal effects do I want to go to each beneficiary?
• Should I leave everything to my spouse?
• Should I give certain things to certain people?
• Should my executor distribute in equal parts by value?
• Should my executor sell everything and divide the proceeds?
• Whom do I want to have my house?

Property Outside a Will

• What kind of property will pass outside my will?
• Is there an insurance policy payable to a named beneficiary?
• Will the life insurance cover my dependants’ living expenses?
• Will life insurance cover my estate expenses?
• Are there U.S. Savings Bonds payable to another person?
• Is there property held in joint tenancy?

Debts

• What debts do I owe and on what terms?
• Which assets should be sold first to pay the debts?
• Do I want debts owed to me canceled at my death?

Children

• Who should be guardian of my children?
• Is there a successor guardian?
• Are the named guardians financially secure?
• Do I want money given to a child paid back to my estate?
• Do I want or need to disinherit any of my children?

Trusts

• Do I want to set up a trust?
• When should the trust pay income and how much should it provide?
• How long should income from the trust continue?
• What events should change income payments from the trust?
• Should the Trustee be able to invade the principal?

Appointments

• Whom should I appoint to serve as Executor?
• Whom should I appoint to serve as successor executor?
• Whom should I appoint to serve as Trustee?
• Whom should I appoint as successor Trustee?

Other

• Do I want my business sold or kept in operation?
• Do I want to give anything to charity, and what are the tax implications?
• What do I want to do in case of a common disaster?
• What happens with my assets if my spouse remarries?
• Will a relative or friend attempt to attack my will?