|
The online source for
Wills, Trusts, Power of Attorneys, and Living Wills Welcome to the Legal Scribe Library of wills, trusts and other legal forms. The index below will link you to all of the forms on our site. Here at this site, you can look at the various documents, completed, with commentary and notes explaining the various provisions, included. All the documents on this site have been drafted by attorneys and is constantly being reviewed by them. We invite you to stop in occasionally as we do add items from time to time. You can visit this site without any charge. All we ask, is that if we send you a document, you contribute five dollars to help cover the costs of the site. Keep the internet free, contribute for your content. As mentioned, this is a contribution and we just hope that you will do it since, and I'm sure you do understand, running a web site does cost a little bit of money. When you have decided what forms you would like, go to the shopping cart page and simply fill out the request form. In a few days, you will receive an e-mail response with the forms you requested attached. When you receive your response, please be sure to do a virus scan. We advise people never open an attachment without scanning it first.
|
|||||||
|
A. Wills.
A will is a document that controls your property after your death. Since this is a document that speaks for you after your death, some people call it a testament. In your will you can give the money directly to someone, or you can leave it in a trust. A trust is when you give something to another, to hold and invest for the benefit of a third person. In a will you can also appoint someone as guardian to look after your children. The reason you need a will is because you can never be sure of the order of death in a family. What I mean by that , is that you never know who will be living at the time of your death. If your wife survives you, that may be fine, but you may die in a common disaster, or shortly after one another. A will can contemplate these contingencies and plan for them. Think of it as an insurance policy.
Lets go to our sample family Tom and Gene. If Tom dies and Gene and Tom owned everything jointly, the house, bank accounts, cars, everything in joint tenancy, then Gene has no problem getting the assets. If Gene does nothing, then the problem arises upon her death. Likewise if they were in a car accident, this creates a problem. If daughter Sarah is still a child when Tom and Gene dies, then who looks after her. If you don't have a will, some person needs to step forward and go to court and petition for administration of the estate and for authority to look after the child. Even a creditor can petition for authority to administrate an estate. If a creditor does it, then the creditor makes sure he gets looked after first not your family.
1. Standard Will number one: This is a simple will that leaves everything to your spouse, if living, otherwise to your children. This will allows you to designate a guardian to look after your children if you and your spouse are deceased. If Tom dies, everything would go to Gene unless she is deceased. In that case everything would go to Sarah. Since Sarah is a minor, Tom appoints a guardian to look after his child Sarah. If all his children are of age then consider will two. 2. Standard Will number two: Everything to your spouse, if living, otherwise everything to your children. In this will it is assumed that your children are of legal age, so no provision for a guardian is included. If Tom dies, everything would go to Gene unless she is deceased. Again, if Gene is deceased everything would go to Sarah and since Sarah is an adult, she would inherit everything directly. 3. Will with a Trust for a minor: Again everything to your spouse, if living, otherwise to your children in a trust until they reach the designated age. You can change the age as you see fit. Since this will is used for families with children it allows you to appoint a person to be guardian of your children. Since a guardian's authority would terminate upon the child reaching the age of majority, the trust created under the will would insure that the assets are used for the child's education or for other necessary expenses. Sarah would have to wait until she reached the designated age before she would get the property outright, in the sample it is twenty-five. You can make this age anything you want. A will with this type of trust prevents your child from spending all the inheritance shortly after receiving it. The trustee of the trust will insure that the inheritance is spent on needed items and not for luxuries. B. Trusts. Trusts are like wills in that they control your property, but you can create one while your alive or upon your death as in a will. An example of a trust created under a will is the one created under will three above. The trust that follows is a trusts created during your life and that you can revoke, i.e. a revocable trust. 1. Revocable Trust: This is a simple trust that pays all the income to you, the grantor of the trust during your life. At your death, all of the property is distributed to your children if they are over the age of twenty-five. If one of them is under the age of twenty-five, then that child's share remains in trust until they reach the age of twenty-five. Please note, that if you have children, you will need to appoint a guardian in case you and your spouse are both deceased. Likewise, you may want your will to pay all property to the trust. It is important to remember that in order for this type of trust to work, you must put all of your assets into the trust before your death. Since the trustee is the title holder to all of your property, you will not need to probate your estate. This will simplify administration and create additional privacy. If Tom is a movie star, or a locally prominent person, he would create a revocable trust to avoid having his assets listed in the court files. Some people create these trust if they remarry, and use this trust to keep property separate from the other spouse's property. C. Other Life Planning Documents. 1. Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions: This document allows another person to make health care decisions for you. When you are unable to communicate your desire concerning health, either through age or some other disability, the nominated person can consent to various medical procedures. In our sample family, Tom is getting up in age and is in poor health. Tom may wish to appoint his wife or daughter, if she is of age, as Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions. This person can then consent to various operations should anything happen to Tom. The Power of Attorney must be of legal age. 2. Declaration Concerning Life Sustaining Procedures: This document expresses that it is your desire that you do not care to have extraordinary efforts expended to keep you alive. This document should be given to your physician, hospital, and or care facility. This is a document of last resort. Tom’s health is fading fast and he is concerned that something is going to happen such as a stroke. While Tom would like to live as long as possible, he doesn’t want to live on a machine. This document lets the doctor know that, if its necessary for machines to keep Tom alive, they should just let nature takes it course. The document does allow for medication for comfort and to alleviate pain. 3. Durable Power of Attorney: A power of attorney grants to another person the power to conduct your financial affairs. It may become effective immediately, or upon a certification by your physician that you are unable to handle your financial affairs. Tom and Gene, as they get older, decide to appoint one another as General Power of Attorneys. Then, if something happens to one of them, the other can handle all the financial affairs. Perhaps they’re going on vacation, then they may appoint their daughter Sarah, if she is of age, to handle matters until they return. The Power of Attorney must be of legal age. Admonishment: Its not our intent to give you legal advice. If you have any questions concerning the effect of any of these documents we remind you that you should contact an attorney in your state competent to advise you in this area of the law.
|
||||||||
|
Legalscribe.com |
||||||||
