How Your Will Affects the Lives of Others

When you create a will, it is going to have an effect on the lives of those you name in it. What does a will do, and who does it affect? The following gives a brief rundown.

The Executor

When you create a will, you’ll name an executor of the will. This is someone who is in charge of administration of your wishes and handling your estate. You should speak with the individual you name as the executor to be sure he or she is on board with what you want. He or she will gather and distribute assets after your death, hire attorneys, file taxes and a variety of other tasks.

Your Beneficiaries

Part of making a will is determining who will benefit from it. These individuals are known as beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries should be specifically named in your will, along with the personal items, property and assets you wish to leave to each of them. Beneficiaries are typically family members and other loved ones you’re close to, but they could also be charities or schools.

Keep in mind if you have joint ownership in a property, you can’t leave that property to another individual. For example, if you own an equal share of a company, you can’t leave the entire company to your brother who has no shares in it. There’s a chance you could leave your portion of it to him, but your business partner would retain his or her portion of ownership.

A Guardian

If you have minor children, you’ll want to name a guardian for them in the event you die while they’re still minors. You should speak to the individual before you put his or her name down as guardian. Be sure he or she is up to the task and that there’s a commitment to raise your kids as closely to the way you would have raised them if you lived.

In some cases, this guardian would take care of everything related to your children, including their finances, but that’s not always how it goes. If you feel there is someone better suited to manage your children’s finances, you can name a financial guardian. He or she could give the physical guardian “child support,” so to speak, which can be used to care for the children. He or she may be responsible for giving the children money for higher education. It just depends on how you put it in the will.

Getting Your Will Started

When you create a will, it doesn’t just effect you and your life. There’s a whole list of people whose lives will be impacted by your document. Call an estate planning lawyer, like from Yee Law Group, to get your will and other documents started today.