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Started By
Message
Creating a Will / Estate plan
Posted on 9/9/24 at 10:20 am
Posted on 9/9/24 at 10:20 am
I am sure been discussed many times, but how does one get started on creating a Will/estate plan?
Do I have to use a lawyer?
Can I just set this up and have it notarized?
I have a young family and it is over due. Just trying to see what’s the best way to go about it. I obviously do not mind paying someone but I have heard it can get very expensive and does not have to, I’m trying to avoid that.
Do I have to use a lawyer?
Can I just set this up and have it notarized?
I have a young family and it is over due. Just trying to see what’s the best way to go about it. I obviously do not mind paying someone but I have heard it can get very expensive and does not have to, I’m trying to avoid that.
8
Posted on 9/9/24 at 10:47 am to Bob Sacamano 89
How complicated is your succession plan? Are you leaving everything to your spouse and/or kids or do you have specific bequests? It's not too terribly difficult, but I would probably pay the money to have something drawn up correctly.
We got lucky and some friends of ours got their wills from an attorney in a Word Doc, so they e-mailed them over and I changed the names.
We got lucky and some friends of ours got their wills from an attorney in a Word Doc, so they e-mailed them over and I changed the names.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 10:54 am to Bob Sacamano 89
Are you wealthy with a complicated financial interests? If not, it's not expensive. Go see an attorney.
If you are wealthy, you can afford it. Go see an attorney.
If you are wealthy, you can afford it. Go see an attorney.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 11:01 am to Epaminondas
quote:
Are you wealthy with a complicated financial interests? If not, it's not expensive. Go see an attorney. If you are wealthy, you can afford it. Go see an attorney.
This. It’s worth a few hundred bucks to have an attorney make sure the document meets the form requirements for the state and to keep a copy on file. If it costs more than that, your situation is complicated to the point that the average person will absolutely frick it up if they do it themselves.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 12:20 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
Simple wills are not that expensive and are easy to screw up if you don’t know what you are doing. Complex wills are more expensive but are easier to screw up.
Go to a lawyer.
Go to a lawyer.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 12:30 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
Make sure if you have elderly parents you get a trust or they donate everything to you at least 5 years in advance. Medicaid and Louisiana have a 5 year look back period from the day they go into assisted living.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 1:59 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
My only advice is do not try to control the world from the grave.
Carefully select guardians and trust them to do what is right.
If you want to leave something to someone or an organization, don’t tie it up in endless qualifiers that may be impossible to meet in the future.
I knew of someone that left a large amount of money for a scholarship for a future member of a specific Church who graduates from a specific high school.
The high school no longer exist. Money is tied up while lawyers argue about what can be done.
Carefully select guardians and trust them to do what is right.
If you want to leave something to someone or an organization, don’t tie it up in endless qualifiers that may be impossible to meet in the future.
I knew of someone that left a large amount of money for a scholarship for a future member of a specific Church who graduates from a specific high school.
The high school no longer exist. Money is tied up while lawyers argue about what can be done.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 2:28 pm to bulldog95
Yea I want to look into the trust as well.
Parents aren’t elderly but dealing with this with older family members and want to be ahead of the game, if that is possible.
Parents aren’t elderly but dealing with this with older family members and want to be ahead of the game, if that is possible.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 2:31 pm to LSUGUMBO
It’s really something my wife and I both need to do to insure our kids have guardians and the the inheritances are divided properly.
Small kids. Obviously hope we don’t perish early, but if we both do, want to have something in place.
I’ll call around locally and see what attorney friends and family have used.
Small kids. Obviously hope we don’t perish early, but if we both do, want to have something in place.
I’ll call around locally and see what attorney friends and family have used.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 3:01 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
My wife and I went through the process this year to create a will and estate plan. We felt like it was overdue as well with a 3-year old and a 2-year old in our household. As the board has mentioned, be sure to involve a lawyer. It cost us $500 to complete (this can vary by lawyer and location). We were given a questionnaire that we completed prior to drafting up the will. The lawyer drafted up the will and had us review it with him after completing the questionnaire. And then we had witnesses sit in to sign the documentation when we completed the transaction. Now we have a copy of the documents at our house in a safe and the lawyer's office has one in their possession.
I think the hardest part of the process falls around where the money goes if parents and kids die. And then also having to determine who we think in the family should get the kids in the scenario my wife and I both die in the near future. The one thing that I'm still not decided on entirely is whether I am cremated or buried. Once I am dead, I don't care. My wife didn't seem to thrilled about my comments, but overall we feel a lot better having done the process instead of put it off.
Lastly, my wife works in HR at a large organization. It is not uncommon for her to deal with the death of an employee once or twice a year (old age, poor health, life event, etc...). Based on her experience the majority of the people are either lacking wills or have outdated wills (employee had a divorce and remarried, but never changed the will that names the old spouse in all the documents). That experience for her pushed up the level of urgency to get a will done for us considering all the grief the employee families are experiencing trying to get retirement accounts, life insurance and what not.
I think the hardest part of the process falls around where the money goes if parents and kids die. And then also having to determine who we think in the family should get the kids in the scenario my wife and I both die in the near future. The one thing that I'm still not decided on entirely is whether I am cremated or buried. Once I am dead, I don't care. My wife didn't seem to thrilled about my comments, but overall we feel a lot better having done the process instead of put it off.
Lastly, my wife works in HR at a large organization. It is not uncommon for her to deal with the death of an employee once or twice a year (old age, poor health, life event, etc...). Based on her experience the majority of the people are either lacking wills or have outdated wills (employee had a divorce and remarried, but never changed the will that names the old spouse in all the documents). That experience for her pushed up the level of urgency to get a will done for us considering all the grief the employee families are experiencing trying to get retirement accounts, life insurance and what not.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 3:04 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
You can do at any age best to do it early than bc wait till it’s to late
Posted on 9/9/24 at 3:13 pm to RickAstley
quote:
grief the employee families are experiencing trying to get retirement accounts, life insurance and what not.
Just so you know almost all of these will pass outside of your will to the person named as beneficiary (unless you don't name anyone or name your estate). Hopefully your lawyer told you this.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 3:36 pm to lsujro
quote:
Just so you know almost all of these will pass outside of your will to the person named as beneficiary (unless you don't name anyone or name your estate). Hopefully your lawyer told you this.
Yeah I am a dumbass. Thanks for correcting me there. I was confusing beneficiary with a will... My wife certainly doesn't have access to any employee wills.
Moral of the story is to update your beneficiaries if you have not and go create a will. And if a life event happens that would affect those, go get them updated.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 6:25 pm to makersmark1
quote:
My only advice is do not try to control the world from the grave.
Spot on. We were devising a plan in case a scenario of a plane crash with myself and my wife. Discussion about how to get the life insurance to the kids and when/how much. Attorney recommended that we issue in stages of life, and sometime between their 30 and 35 birthday we must issue the remainder to the kids. She has dead clients that are still giving their kids an allowance and they are in their mid 50’s. Not something I wanted to do.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 6:28 pm to Mariner
quote:
Attorney recommended that we issue in stages of life, and sometime between their 30 and 35 birthday we must issue the remainder to the kids.
Very reasonable.
I made sure not to put tons of restrictions on how the money is used.
I forgot the term; I think it’s “health and welfare” or some such, but if my kids want to go to Europe or some other vacation together they can access the money for things like that.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 6:35 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
We did ours with an attorney for $350 literally $350. 
Posted on 9/9/24 at 7:44 pm to Bob Sacamano 89
My wife and I used an attorney. It was very inexpensive. It’s very worth it in my opinion. Will and life insurance should be the highest priorities for a young family IMO.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 7:44 pm to LSUGUMBO
My ten and twelve year old are my beneficiaries on life insurance, IRAs, etc. chances the ex wife will get ahold of it and blow it on 30A? High.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 8:02 pm to RickAstley
We just had a will and trust created. I think it would have cost $3-4K but my legal insurance covered it all.
We set 25 as the age where the kids get full access to their trust.
Pretty involved paperwork but glad to have it done. Now in the process of beneficiary updates.
We set 25 as the age where the kids get full access to their trust.
Pretty involved paperwork but glad to have it done. Now in the process of beneficiary updates.
Posted on 9/9/24 at 11:21 pm to RickAstley
quote:
Moral of the story is to update your beneficiaries if you have not and go create a will. And if a life event happens that would affect those, go get them updated.
Very important. Common scenario: Man lists a wife as beneficiary on work 401k or life insurance. Then they divorce. Man remarries, has new family, etc. Dies 30 years later, and the bitch ex wife gets all those benefits (that pass outside any will).
Some states have laws that say an ex is automatically removed as a life insurance beneficiary, but others (like LA) say the named beneficiary gets it pretty much no matter what. Many workplace benefits are governed by fed law that has its own rules that are more like LA.
Best to avoid any issues by checking the beneficiaries listed on any insurance or retirement accounts after any life event (death of spouse or divorce, estrangement from insane child, etc.).
I know two families with the red arse because dead dads never took long ago ex-wives off of life insurance. Exes got it all and chose not to share.
There was a situation in the news recently where a young guy listed his live-in gal as beneficiary on his Procter & Gamble retirement account. They broke up two years later and moved on with life. He died 30 years later, long partnered with someone else, but he never changed the beneficiary. Old girlfriend is probably going to cash in for about $750,000.
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