Make the right plans with a Valid Will
A Will, also known as a Last Will and Testament, is an estate planning document on which you express your wishes regarding how you want your property disposed at your death. On the will, you clearly express what asset goes to who, and in what proportion. Since you would no longer be alive by then, you must name an executor who would see to it that the instructions on your will are effectively executed.
Requirements for writing a will in New York
According to the Brooklyn state laws effective in every borough within the state, a will must be written by a person of at least 18 years for the will to have a chance to pass as valid in a Brooklyn Probate Court. When signing or acknowledging a will, you must do so in the presence of at least two witnesses, and you must declare to these witnesses that the document you’re signing or acknowledging is indeed your last will. Both witnesses would have to sign in front of you to prove their presence, after which you pen your signature at the bottom.
While you can have your witnesses sign the same time as you, Brooklyn state law gives you an ultimatum of 30 days to have your witnesses observe you acknowledging or signing the will.
Lastly, the Will should contain a named beneficiary, and also persons in whose possessions your estate will fall to after your death. A beneficiary could however be a person or an organization.
Benefits of a last Will
- Pass your property over to your loved ones at your death;
- Name a guardian for your minor children at your death;
- Appoint a trusted party who would look after whatever property you leave to your minors until they come of legal age to handle such property themselves;
- Name an executor who would ensure the terms of your will are duly carried out to the letter.
Don’t fail to make plans
Dying without a Will would make things quite complex for the family of the deceased. When one dies without a will or the will is declared invalid, the estate left by the deceased becomes “intestate”, that is, will be administered in accordance with the intestacy laws effective in Brooklyn. Here, the court would have to appoint an executor/administrator who will carry out the distribution of property as well as other fiduciary duties.
In the absence of a valid last will in Brooklyn, the intestacy laws states that all your estate would go to your spouse if you had no children. If you had only children, your estate would go to the children. If you’re survived by a spouse as well as children, then your spouse receives the half of your property, while the rest falls to your children. If you’re survived by neither spouse nor children, then your estate goes to your surviving next-of-kin as judged by the laws of Brooklyn.
No matter the financial or medical situation you are in today, contact a will attorney Brooklyn to help you plan for the future, yours and that of your family by documenting the appropriate Will.
You may want to Consider one or more of the following cases and see if you fit into these categories; you own and manage one or more businesses, you have minor children or you don’t have any children, you have a disabled family member, or you have one or more health issues, you are married, divorced or in a second marriage etc. These situations requires you make appropriate plans, and prepare a valid Will.
Consult a will lawyer Brooklyn
The Will Attorney Brooklyn is an attorney having years of experience in writing Wills in Brooklyn, and well-versed in its estate laws. There are, of course, already-made templates which you can get online which would greatly ease your will drafting process, but you should acknowledge the fact that every individual is different, and so every estate is different. Hence, a good estate plan should be individualized to meet the specific needs and desires of the person in question. For that reason, you may need more than a one-size-fits-all template of a will. Contact a Will Attorney Brooklyn to avoid possible errors which may greatly cost your surviving loved ones on the long run.