Best Online Will Makers

If you own anything that you would want to pass on to someone after you die, you should have a will. A properly executed will minimizes the time a court needs to process your estate and ensures that your beneficiaries will receive your assets quickly and efficiently. If you don’t intend to pass your assets on to family or friends, you can designate a charity or nonprofit as a beneficiary.

Once you’ve finished the paperwork, don’t forget the last, essential step: executing the will. Each state has its own laws regarding proper legal document execution — including how many witnesses are required to sign it and whether you can use a “self-proving affidavit.” (A self-proving affidavit is an additional document, signed by a notary, that certifies that a will has been executed properly and helps ensure that your witnesses won’t need to testify in court, though that could still happen if someone challenges the will.) In most states, you need two witnesses to sign your will and witness you signing it, though some states have different rules.

Once your will is properly signed and executed, store it in a safe place like a fireproof safe or safety deposit box. Wherever you decide to store it, make sure your executor and beneficiaries are aware of the location.

Probate is a legal process that validates your will and settles your estate. A court reviews your estate documentation to ensure that the right people receive the right things; the clearer and more legally precise your will, the smoother that process will be. If a will is unclear, contested or found to be improperly executed, any fees associated with the lengthened court process are deducted from the estate. A high probate fee could take roughly 10% of an average estate.

Most bank accounts, brokerage accounts and other financial assets allow you to appoint beneficiaries, and it’s a good idea to assign at least one for each account to prevent the need for probate.

If you have a large or complex estate or own real estate, it’s worthwhile paying $1,000 to $2,000 to a legal professional to make sure it’s settled properly. Working with an attorney is also a good idea for people with more complicated family situations — stepchildren, blended families and disinheritances, for a few examples.

A living trust creates a legal entity, a trust, that becomes the holder of your assets. It has a trustee — you, until you die, and then someone else you appoint — who is responsible for managing the assets. Since the trust is an entity distinct and separate from your estate, its assets are not subject to probate.

And that’s the main benefit: avoiding probate and its associated costs. But trusts are also more difficult to challenge because their assets are private, in contrast to wills, which are public. Establishing a trust may also be considerably more complicated and expensive, but it’s well within reason for many people.

When planning your estate, the main documents to consider are:

• A last will and testament.
• A living trust.
• A power of attorney, which grants someone else authorization to act on your behalf in health-related, financial or other private affairs should you die or become incapacitated.
• A living will, also called a health care directive, which states your wishes for end-of-life care should you not be able to make those decisions on your own.

Usually, no. Laws differ state by state, but in most cases you only need to have two witnesses (who are not beneficiaries) sign it and watch you sign it.