I do a lot of the wills and estate work here at Hillman, Brown & Darrow, and I field a lot of the questions clients have about wills. The first main question that most folks have is whether they need a will at all. Generally, people don’t like to think about death and what will happen after they die, and they only consider wills at seminal moments in their lives, i.e. marriage, divorce, births, retirement, etc. And many people think that, if all they want is for their spouse and children or grandchildren to get their stuff, they don’t need a will. However, a will can serve other purposes than just determining who gets your stuff. For example, if you have die with an 8 year old girl, who will manage her money until she becomes an adult? What if you have an 18 year old son that you adore, but don’t trust having a large lump sum of money? (and speaking from personal experience, you probably shouldn’t) These are issues that a will can resolve.
Contrary to popular belief, most wills won’t avoid taxes, and can’t determine custody issues. However, wills can put good, common sense conditions even on transfers of property that most people consider normal, and they can be tailored to suit your personal family situation. They can also prevent court action to determine trustees, guardians, and conservators, actions which are typically much more expensive than a simple will, and which may occur if you don’t spell the matters out in a will. Along with your will, at Hillman, Brown & Darrow we also will draft Powers-of-Attorneys and Living Wills to assist your affairs upon disability and end-of-life decisions. These are documents that clients often don’t consider but are of tremendous help. The attorneys here stand ready to assist you in planning for your family’s future, during your life and beyond.
