Do you have a will? I do, but it is a million years old. I made it after my divorce, but prior to my remarriage. Hubby has all our financial details in perfect order except for… my will. From that statement alone you can tell it is something I have put off – for whatever unknown reason – and Hubby is the conscientious one in our family . I know I need to get it done and it is only a matter of calling our attorney and having him take care of it. And yet, I haven’t done so. And I have no idea why not!
Maybe this post is my push to get that will updated. My new married name might be good, and my worldly good distribution will change … mmmm maybe I was waiting on grandchildren to cut out Sonny-boy? 😛
Do you have a will?
Stephanie K says
I am the ultimate procrastinator on so many things, but after our daughter was born I nagged my husband relentlessly until we got a will. I know it sounds weird, but since my husband and I rode together to work every day I figured that she had a higher than average chance of becoming an orphan than kids with parents that didn’t carpool!
Sara says
That makes perfect sense!
Sara says
I don’t have one because I never thought I needed one. However, at 26 I do own a few “big” things now and I have a decent sized savings account, so I should get one. Heck, I can even get it done FREE through my work and I’m still putting it off. Hmmm….we both need to get on it! 🙂
Candie says
Since my early 20s I have had several serious medical conditions, none that will kill me immediately, but serious enough to have constant medical monitoring and lots of medication. When I turned 40 I realized that my family is very small, I am an only child, all of my dad and mom’s relatives have passed away. I have 2 children and raised my grandson and I knew I had to do a will, even though I had hardly anything at the time. I now am financially sound and have changed it two times because I built a house and my son and daughter finally spoke up about what they wanted when I pass. I think even when you are in your 20s you need a will. I have seen several families be torn apart by a family member passing and the family that is left have fought for all of the property. I never wanted that to happen to my small family.
KimH says
Yep, I do. 15 years ago, M’honey & I blended households and we both had minor children. While I was never terribly concerned about something happening to either of us, you never do know. What actually later pushed me to insist we get wills was I was going to cosign on a mortgage loan that would drop the interest rate considerably. The kicker was, I wasnt an owner at the time, and if he passed, his children would inherit the house and his X wife who is a druggie/alcoholic/looser/user would get custody of those kids & kick me out of a house that I would be legally responsible for.. I said “AINT NO WAY JOSE!” I might be kind, but I AINT STUPID! 😉 All was taken care of, Im now a co-owner on deed as well as in deed. 😉
We no longer have any minor children but it was written in a way that its still good for us unless something major comes along to change anything.
What I would really like to do is make funeral arrangements and buy a burial plot.. He doenst want anything to do with it.. sigh..
Debb F says
I do not have a will at this time other than the one I hand wrote when I almost died just in case I didnt get better a few years ago. But I do have life insurance with my husband and son on it, used to be my nephew but then I had my son. I also have all of my husband and my bank accounts and IRA P.O.D. meaning they are set up to be Payable on Death with beneficiary named and no arguing will be done what so ever. When I do get my will redone, I am going to add that should anyone in my family take my son to court over this estate, they are to receive NOTHING> Everything goes to my son and anyone who wants to sue him is not going to be able to once I get that done.
Skirnir Hamilton says
Yes, we have a will. Probably about a year after our son was born, we sat down with a lawyer and created a will, power of attorney and a health will thingie. Mainly we wanted to choose a guardian for our son, if we both died at some point before he was out on his own. We wanted to make sure he was taken care of. Not sure when we will revise it, but probably not until he is out on his own, I imagine.
Marie says
I don’t have a will nor does my husband. We rent, the children are grown and we don’t really have any assets. But I will say to change your will as often. A death in the family makes people crazy. When my Grandfather passed away it took a bout 3 years before things were finally put in order. His will was so old that it didn’t include all his assets or the fact that his wife had already passed away or that he was living in a different state. Two of his children started fighting and it took a near death medical condition to get them to forgive and forget. When my landlord passed away his will was also so old it didn’t take into consideration that his wife and two of his many siblings had preceded him in death and that my family was intended to inherit the house. That was a 2 year battle that left me and my family in fear of being homeless and terribly stressed. We still the rent the house that we were promised and have paid the price of the house almost two times over.
Patti says
Yep. Have one. We keep it updated. If you have assets & want them to go anywhere specific, you need one. Saves everyone’s sanity, protects your family (or those whom you want to protect) & protects your assets.
If you have a health crisis (and we all do at some point ~ either ourselves or someone we love) it helps immensely to have a will, durable power of attorney & a medical directive. When you are in a health crisis you don’t need to add to the stress by trying to pull all the legal work & financial information together. Besides, in some cases it’s too little too late. Sad, very sad when that happens.
Also, look at a revocable living trust for your assets. They aren’t only for the filthy rich. They distribute your property at death, but you don’t need to go through probate & court proceedings (unlike a will). Talk to a trusted attorney. Make sure they know their stuff. Many specialize in trusts.
Just do it.
Ann says
Hmmm that could be why I am lazy about the will, Patti – everything we have is in a revocable trust of some sort, so the beneficiaries are already named there. You definitely want an asset protection attorney or an elder care attorney (and sometimes, they mesh). Hubby did a TON of research before we went this route, and for us it was privacy driven… the other benefits were perks.
Ann
Patti says
Ah. That makes more sense to me. I could not see your hubby not doing something in this area!! Not with all the financial planning he has done.
Yeah, we moved to a revocable trust when we updated everything a few years back. I believe each state sets its own regs on how they work & who can set them up. And your advice on retaining an asset protection or elder attorney is excellent.