Estate planning is an important and relevant process for virtually all adults. Despite this, a significant number of adults in the U.S. have yet to even draft a will, let alone any other estate planning documentation.
A will is a legal document that can outline your final wishes in terms of how your assets should be distributed after your passing. You can also utilize a will to name guardians who can look after your minor children should something happen to you.
With the right guidance, it can be relatively straightforward to draft a will that is fit for these purposes. Without that guidance, mistakes can happen. For example, the following are two mistakes that you will want to avoid when drafting your will.
Drafting a will on your own
There is nothing to stop you drafting a will completely on your own, but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily a good idea. Various websites offer will templates that can be completed quickly for a low price. However, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. DIY will templates tend to be generic. Estate planning laws, on the other hand, are very specific and they vary from state to state. If your will is not drafted according to the laws of the state in which you reside, it is highly likely that it will be deemed legally invalid.
Forgetting to include sentimental items
While including property and valuables in your will is important, it’s also vital not to neglect sentimental items. Once you are no longer here, your friends and family will want to treasure every memory. Sentimental items may not necessarily be valuable in terms of money, but for emotional reasons they could be priceless. If these items are not included in your will, it may fall on the courts to decide how they are divided. There is no guarantee that they go to the people who genuinely want them and who you would have liked to have them.
Given the complexities at hand and the stakes of the process, whether you are drafting a will from scratch or making changes, seeking legal guidance is almost certainly the way to go.
