Wills non-Valk

[mbramley]

  I probably should have had a will made years ago, but.  I have been debating using one of the online will services you see advertised on tv and such. My question is has anyone used these, are they safe, etc? Does anyone have experience with any of them? I don't even know what it costs to have a lawyer draw one up or what an online one costs. Sorry for the non Valk post but I figured there would be people on here with experience, it seems we have people here with experience on just about everything!

[Oss]

A consult with an estate planning attorney in your state is a good start

are you concerned about medicaid in the future taking a chunk of your family home or farm?

What kind of assets do you want to go to whom and for how long?

It is not 1 size fits all

If you have a home and family farm you have well over a million dollars at stake here  Spending several hundred dollars on a good estate planning lawyer is just good business

Many of my clients opt for a simple (spill over ) will and a Trust for valuable property (ies)

The government is NOT your friend in this.  It is your patriotic duty to protect yourself and your family from the government and their taxation (both legal and immoral and illegal)

[Jess from VA]

I would add this: 

Investments, bank accounts, life insurance policies, 401Ks and IRAs go to named beneficiaries in the contracts, and generally you can say to A, but if dead to B, but if dead to C.  Or, you can say to A, B and C (or the survivors) in equal shares.  They are not usually disposed of in a will (but these things can be poured over into a trust if you want.)

A simple will (perhaps with reciprocal wills, if there's a spouse), coupled with named beneficiaries on the above items, can get the job done pretty well.  The idea here is to avoid probate entirely (if your estate has to go through probate at all, you screwed up). 

Reciprocal wills = All to wife, but if she's gone, to surviving children in equal shares.  All to husband, but if he's gone, to surviving children in equal shares.  Or variations thereof.  Husbands and wives creating reciprocal wills usually name each other as 1st choice executors, then the eldest (or most responsible) child next.

Trusts are for people with larger estates ($), and who want to exert control over their assets even after their death (possibly decades after their death).  They are also the way to better avoid taxes on large estates. 

I was never a fan of lists of individual bequests of "stuff" to other family and friends.  In my day, I had to type these on an IMB Selectric, no computer.  If you want Bob to have the shotgun (and other stuff to others), give it to them (shortly) before you die.  Or leave a side list with your will telling your executor who to give what.  If you can't trust your named executor, you named the wrong person.

Now, you can add people to real estate deeds and vehicle titles during your lifetime (so they become owners after your death), but they can demand their shares NOW, and take you to court NOW, so doing this is risky without supreme trust.

I wouldn't be against using some on-line or workbook simple will kit (VALID IN YOUR STATE) for free as a starting point.  Then when satisfied, have it looked over by a pro.  It may be fine and complete, or it may need a bit of touching up and fixing.  Depending...  If the pro charges an hourly rate (as opposed to a flat fee), you'll have done all the work you can up front, and minimized cost to you. 

I was not an estate planning (or tax) attorney, and I never prepared a single trust instrument, but I drafted maybe 1000 simple wills as a civilian and a military lawyer.  I doubt any of the 1000 were highly affluent, just regular folks.   

[Oss]

be wary of adding folks to title before death

because if and when they sell there is no step up in basis

example you pay 1000 for a house in 1950  now its worth 900000
if you put a son or daughter on that house their basis is what you paid not 900k when you die

I have seen too many examples of piss poor planning leading to huge tax and as Jess likw to say, a divorce screwing your kids out of an inheritance    

a trust avoids probate and if you have no long term care insurance and may need to go to a nursing home one day  you can save the value of that home  as well as protect other assets  Medicaid looks back 60 months   

[DIGGER]

Last year wifey and I went to a lawyer to get our wills made up.   We also spent some time with the lawyer to discuss advantages vs disadvantages of putting our fortune in a trust to keep medicade from taking a chunk.  Overall he advised us not to make a trust.    He charged us $600.

[Jess from VA]

Evan, I have Medicare (A & B), not Medicaid (a safety net for medically uninsured or under-insured).

This was news to me.   https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-estate-recovery-program/

And what comes of old retired lawyers long out of the business and practice with no CLE (continuing legal education). 

If you go on the public assistance for medical care late in life (Medicaid), they may put a lien on your home (which is likely the last valuable asset you may have) to recoup all or some the medical expense you incur.  Of course this is fairer than making taxpayers pay your expenses, but it can screw up your estate planning for death. 

[mbramley]

 Thank you all for the information. I don't have much, I doubt I will ever pay off my house, 401k has some in it, but according to the fiduciary I don't have enough to retire(we'll see about that). It sounds like I need to start finding a pro to handle this job.

[Jess from VA]

Again, there's nothing wrong with using an online or other simple will kit (valid for your state - OH) to  make you think about and decide on the nuts and bolts basics for your estate planning.  It's better doing this thinking and planning for free at home (or the library) than at an attorney's office at an hourly rate.  And of course there's a tremendous amount of free reading and research on line.

Then, when you think you have it all worked out to your satisfaction, take it into someone and have them look it over for you.  And simple wills are at the low end of most attorney expertise, so you don't go to some big fancy (and expensive) law firm like Dewy, Cheatum & Howe, just to some small or one man operation ought to be fine.  Talk to friends and family (good old boy network) in the area for advice on who to see.