+91 95358 58289Preparing for estate planning
Assets that can be included in a Will
Before writing your Will, you'll need to inventory your assets. Assets can include items that have a monetary value or sentimental value. Other considerations include what you may want to happen to your pets or livestock.
Property to include in a Will:
- Real estate including homes, land, timeshares, commercial buildings, vacation property
- Cash such as bank accounts, savings accounts, business accounts, money market accounts
- Personal property like intellectual property and royalties
- Tangible property such as vehicles, jewelry, art, antiques and furniture
- Business assets, if dictated by your operating agreement
Need of a Lawyer to make a Will
No, you do not. It is simple to make a Last Will and Testament using our document builder. If you have a large estate, you may benefit from consulting with your accountant and lawyer to make sure you create a Will that would be difficult to dispute. You may also want to hire a lawyer if you own business assets with other owners that you may need to include in your Will.
Do Husband & Wife need a separate Will
Yes. In most cases, you and your spouse will need separate Wills. You may have separate assets and you likely will not die at the same time. In addition, some states do not support "Joint Wills." If you happen to die at the same time, both Wills will go into probate.
Separate Wills give you the opportunity to address issues such as:
- Children from previous relationships
- Sentimental family property that you may want to leave to someone other than your spouse
- To assure that your children will inherit certain assets rather than your spouse's children or your spouse's future spouse
- The distribution of business assets
- Leaving too many assets to an elderly spouse, making it difficult for them to receive benefits
Power of Attorney
Power of Attorney & its Types
Power of Attorney (POA) documents are used to appoint someone to take care of your financial affairs when you cannot. The appointed person can legally manage your financial obligations if you become incapacitated. You can decide how much control you want to give them and what you consider to be "incapacitated." You can also appoint a POA if you are healthy, but don't want to, or have the time to, manage your own finances.
Limited Power of Attorney
A person appointed with Limited Power of Attorney can act on your behalf for a specific transaction or for a limited amount of time.
General Power of Attorney
A General POA appoints someone to have general authority to manage nearly any aspect of your finances, including writing checks and taking distributions from your investments.
Springing Power of Attorney
Springing POAs "spring" into action when certain circumstances are met, such as when you become incapacitated.
What happens to my online accounts after Death?
If you have not added a Digital Assets Addendum to your Will, your accounts will be active long after your death. Most online social media accounts do have procedures for your family to follow after you pass to close or memorize your profiles. But they may not even know which accounts you have or think to shut them down. So, it is best if you appoint someone to manage your digital assets.
You'll want to choose someone you can trust with your personal information while you are alive and after you pass. The Digital Assets Addendum will include:
- A list of every online account and profile with links.
- Your account username or ID and password.
- A description of what you want them to do with the account.
Other digital assets to think about include information stored on your mobile phone, external hard drives, and computer hard drives. You can include in the addendum to your Will how you want these digital assets to be managed. You may choose to have them archived or erased completely.