Why You Must Hire Lawyers While Drafting Your Will

A Will is a critical document that defines who receives what once you are gone. Primarily, it’s a way to safeguard your final wishes and leave your belongings in the hands of those you want. The document covers a wide array of end-of-life matters. These include providing legal institutions for bequests such as real estate property, personal property, and investment assets to your heirs. Not only this, but a Will also decides the procedures of transferring the valuable assets to the heirs. Such as handing over the entire real estate to your spouse or leaving some amount of cash to the minors.

Most people try their best to defer the task of writing a Will. However, life’s unpredictable ups and downs can cause repercussions for those left behind by the deceased person. Suppose you breathe your last without formulating a Will for your family members. In that case, your entire estate might get confiscated by the court. And your loved ones might have to put up with a long, intricate probate process.

There’s nothing more frightening than thinking about you no longer being alive for your family members. Therefore, don’t let your heirs hang in the air; get in touch with an experienced attorney. You can easily avoid the probate process and protect your final wishes with a lawyer at your side.

Here are some more convincing reasons for you to engage a knowledgeable lawyer for drafting your Will:

Manage family dynamics

The family dynamics vary from one family to another. However, a lawyer can develop a plan that best aligns with your current situation. For instance, you may wish to hand down your proceeds of hard work and the investments you made in your life to the succeeding generations. And trust is undoubtedly a great and safe method to ensure all your wishes are implemented.

However, you may wonder how to set up a trust fund to secure your children’s future. A lawyer can help you establish a trust fund for your children to protect valuable assets for now and in the long run. For example, suppose a child gets the inheritance entirely. In that case, they may transfer some funds in a joint bank account with the future partner. So, at this point, funds will be marital property. And if the couple parts ways, your child’s ex-partner may have the right to claim much of the inheritance. Nonetheless, if you have set up a trust with the help of a lawyer with a strong reputation, the funds will be out of your child’s ex-partner reach in the event of divorce.

Prevent mistakes

While the legal obligations of writing a Will are relatively straightforward, a single error can make your efforts go down the drain and nullify the entire Will.

People often draft a Will in haste and without investing much thought into it. Relying on yourself to write a Will makes it easier to overlook important details. Such as, you may skip out some assets, inadvertently write the name of the wrong executor, forget to name the guardian of your children.

Be mindful; the supposedly boilerplate language is valuable and contingent upon exceptional circumstances. Thus, it makes sense to hire an experienced lawyer who has years of experience and can avoid costly mistakes. A skilled attorney fully knows the legal intricacies and ensures nothing slips through the cracks.

Ensure legal compliance

Cutting corners while drafting a Will can spell negative consequences. Not only will it adversely impact your family members. It will also irk your intent to protect them when you are no longer alive to direct things.

There’s ample information available online about the legal requirements of writing your Will. However, you can’t always be sure that the Will you drafted complies with the legal obligations. That’s because the state laws are quite strict about who you can include and who you cannot include in your Will. For instance, you need to add a personal representative, also known as executors for the Will. Likewise, you might need to be extra careful about the witness’s signature and the manner they sign since there are procedures that one must follow when signing.

Therefore, it’s recommendable to hire a skilled attorney that can walk you through various aspects of drafting a Will and answer your concerns.

Lessen the risk of challenges

People closest to you or those who were close to you in the past can contest the Will if they think that the allocation of properties is unfair. How would you reduce the probability of such issues arising? How can you ensure that no one possesses the legal basis for contesting your Will?

If you have multiple divorces, does it imply that you must distribute your properties among your ex-spouses? If you had several relationships in the past, is it a requirement for you to leave some property for every one of them? Is it possible for you to state in your Will that the heir who challenges the Will, will get deprived of properties?

Therefore, it’s viable to seek advice from the lawyer and avoid such complications. They can steer you in the right direction and guide you if your Will is vulnerable to potential challenges.

Final words

Like life insurance, a Will allows you to plan for the end of your life and protect your loved ones’ well-being. As you move on with life and things change, you always have the option to overhaul it, too.

However, attempting to write your Will without any legal help can end you up in the dark and leave you abandoned if you encounter any complexities. Not to mention how do-it-yourself Will are more likely to be rendered invalid due to costly mistakes.

Therefore, it’s crucial to hire a highly-competent and knowledgeable lawyer to prevent problems down the line. Consulting a professional lawyer can give you peace of mind knowing your loved ones are financially secured.

 

 


There are affiliate links in this post. At no cost to you, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.