Five Things To Know About Creating A Will

Back in March my husband and I finally sat down with our attorney and created our will.

First off, what is a will? A will is a document that states your final wishes and the court makes sure that your final wishes are carried out.

Creating a will was one of those things we knew we needed to do, but for whatever reason, never set up. It’s extremely important, one of the most important decisions of your life, yet the majority of people have not yet created a will. It is a difficult topic to discuss. We may not want to even think about planning for after we pass on, but when you die without a will, the court decides how to divide you estate without your input. As a parent, creating a will was extremely important to me because it allowed me to name the guardian of my children if something were to happen to my husband and I. Having this spelled out in a will eliminates the court/state involvement. There will now be no unnecessary delays and my children will be in good hands. I know my children, I have their best interest in mind. The last thing I would want is a stranger deciding their future care. If you have fur babies, you can also use a will to name a trusted caretaker for your pets.

So you’re ready to create your will! Maybe you don’t know where to begin? Maybe you don’t know if it’s necessary? Maybe you created a will in the past and have not updated it in a long time?

Here are the five take aways I left with after creating my will and trust with my attorney:

1. Peace of Mind – A common misconception is that anyone can write-up a will and make it official. It’s very important to create and execute your will with a professional! Working with an attorney gave us the peace of mind we needed while making the very important decisions we did. We know our will and trust are not only created accurately, but go above and beyond making sure our wishes for our loved ones are clear…leaving nothing to interpretation!
2. Trust – In addition to creating and executing our will, we also created and executed a trust. A trust is a legal arrangement of assets to a third-party who holds them and manages them for the benefit of others. We were able to set up a plan for the boys to receive our assets in the event that we pass before they are adults. We were able to spell the exact ages they must reach and amounts we would like them to receive. We were also able to grant them special items that will be left out of probate and go solely to each of them.
3. You Can Change Your Will At Anytime – It’s important to know you can update your will at anytime, and you should. It’s recommended you update your will after every big life event. A big life event might be but not limited to: the birth of a child, marriage, the death of a family member (especially if they’re listed as a beneficiary, guardian, or executor in your will), and divorce.
4. Tomorrow Is Not Promised – It might feel like we are invincible as human beings. The truth is, tomorrow is not promised. It is so important to make sure we have clear direction about our wishes to family & loved ones in the event of the unthinkable.
5. It’s Way Too Easy – Create your will as soon as possible, don’t hold off. Once we had all of our documents signed, I instantly felt relief. It was such an easy process that I also felt some self-inflicted guilt. I felt so bad that I let so much time pass without creating this important document. It is seriously so easy to get this done! There is no reason to put it off!

If you’re in Ohio or Kentucky I highly encourage you to reach out to Jesse Taylor today! He went above and beyond for us and taught us so much during the process. He will teach you how to protect your assets and ensure your family is taken care of. He can tailor a strategy to your specific financial needs and draft all of the necessary documentation. As soon as you sign those documents you will feel so relieved and wonder why you didn’t do this sooner!

Jesse Taylor, ESQ.

                                                                              513 – 205 – 2550