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IT CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR A NON-LAWYER TO USE ANY FORM AND TRY TO
ANYTHING "LEGAL" ON A "DO IT YOURSELF" BASIS. THIS FORM IS MERELY A GUIDE AND
OFFERED "AS IS WITH ALL FAULTS" TO ILLUSTRATE WHAT A SIMPLE WILL USUALLY
CONTAINS.
MAKE SURE YOU GET ANY WILL PROPERLY WITNESSED BY 3 ADULTS WHO ARE NOT
BENEFICIARIES AND ARE NOT CLOSELY RELATED TO YOU. THEY SHOULD ACTUALLY SEE
YOU SIGN THE WILL AND THEN SIGN IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER!
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I, [Full Name of Person Making the Will], a resident of [City, State], hereby make this Will
and revoke all prior Wills and Codicils.
1. PERSONAL INFORMATION:
b. I am married to [Name of Spouse], who I will refer to as "my spouse". We were married
on [Date of Marriage] in [Place of Marriage]. IF SEPARATED ADD We have been separated
since [Date or Year of Separation, and if by court order or agreement, add pursuant to
order of the _____ Court on date].
OR IF NEVER MARRIED
b. I am not currently married but I was previously married to [Name of Last Spouse in YEAR
OF MARRIAGE ] and the marriage ended by [STATE WHICH Death, Divorce, or Annulment]
in [Year].
c. I have ____ NUMBER OR WORD "NO" living children. IF YOU DO HAVE LIVING CHILDREN
LIST NAMES AND BIRTH DATES OF ALL CHILDREN, NATURAL OR ADOPTED. IF ANY OF
YOUR CHILDREN HAVE DIED AND THEY LEFT A CHILD GIVE THE NAME OF DECEASED
CHILD AND THE AND NAME OF EACH OF HI S OR HER LIVING CHILDREN
d. In the event am the sole surviving parent of minor children, then I appoint
_________________ to serve as their Guardian. If s/he is unable or unwilling to serve, I
appoint ____________________ as Alternate Guardian.
All to my spouse.
or
or
One-third (or other percentage) to my spouse and the balance to my children, equally and
their issue, per stirpes
or
or
If any beneficiary under this Will does not survive me by 30 days, then I shall be deemed to
have survived such person.
I, _________________ [Your Printed Name], hereby sign this Will at _______ [City and
State] on this ______ day of ______________, 200_
_________________ [signature ]
WITNESSES
GET THREE PEOPLE, WHO ARE ALL THERE AT THE SAME TIME TO SEE YOU SIGN THE WILL,
TO IMMEDIATELY SIGN THIS ATTESTATION. A WILL THAT IS NOT PROPERLY WITNESSED
IS NOT VALID!
Each of us hereby states, under penalties of perjury, that on this _____ day of __________,
200_, at _______________________________________[Name of City, State] we
observed ________________________ [Full Name of Person Making the Will] who we know
or who otherwise proved his/her identity to us, declare the above document to be his/her
Will. S/he then asked us to serve as his/her witnesses and then signed the document in our
presence. S/he appeared to be an adult, of sound mind and memory, and acting of his/her
own free will, and not under any force or duress. We are now, immediately after s/he signed
the Will, signing our names in his/her presence.
Last Will
and
Testament of
Tom Sample
I, Tom Sample, of Ourtown, Anystate, declare this to be my will, and I revoke all prior
wills and codicils that I have made.
ARTICLE I
All estate and inheritance taxes (including interest and penalties, if any), together
with all administration expenses, payable in any jurisdiction by reason of my death
(including those taxes and expenses payable with respect to assets which do not pass under
this will) shall be paid out of and charged generally against the principal of my residuary
estate, without apportionment. I waive any right of reimbursement for, recovery of, or
contribution toward the payment of those taxes and administration expenses, except my
personal representatives shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, seek
reimbursement for, recovery of, or contribution toward the payment of federal or state
estate tax attributable to property in which I have a qualifying income interest for life, or
over which I have a power of appointment.
This is a rather standard paragraph since your estate is obligated by law to pay estate or
inheritance taxes. There are two other ideas in here that you need to know about. The first
is this idea of apportionment. What this does is the taxes and expenses come out of the left
over share, the residuary amount. So if you had $200.00 and you gave $100.00 to your
wife Gene and left the remainder to Sarah, Gene would get the full $100,00 and Sarah
would get what ever is left over after taxes and expenses. This is important because most
people tend to give specific amounts to various people and leave their spouse what ever is
left over. Remember, what ever is left over is after taxes and expenses. The other concept
is waiving reimbursement. For instance if you has $200.00 in your estate and of that
$100.00 was in joint tenancy, the jointly owned amount is not reduced by taxes or
expenses. Most people own property in joint tenancy with their spouse, such as savings
accounts and their house. It is important to remember that taxes and expenses will be paid
out of the remainder share.
ARTICLE II
A. I give all the tangible personal property that I own at my death, including any
household furniture and furnishings, automobiles, books, pictures, jewelry, art objects,
hobby equipment and collections, wearing apparel, and other articles of household or
personal use or ornament, to Gene Sample ("my spouse"), if my spouse is then living on
the day after the date of my death, or, if my spouse is not then living, to such of my
children as are then living on the day after the date of my death, in shares of
substantially equal value, to be divided in such manner as they shall agree or, if they
shall fail to agree upon a division within six months after the date of my death, as my
personal representatives shall determine; provided, however, that if a child of mine has
not reached legal age under the law of the jurisdiction in which the child is domiciled at
the time set for distribution under this paragraph, then distribution of his or her share
shall be made to the person having legal custody of said child, and such person shall
represent the child, receipt for and hold the child’s share for his or her benefit.
Paragraph A simply gives away your personal items. Part B is mentioned to be sure that it
is your intent to cover the cost of delivery and that it should be considered an expense that
you should be able to deduct against any tax obligation. The interesting paragraph is
C. This paragraph allows you to take out pen and paper and make a list of items and who
they should go to. Note, this list must be dated and signed by you. This way, if you want
your daughter to have your wedding ring you can leave it to her in a note without having to
change your will. If you change your mind, destroy the list and make a new one.
ARTICLE III
I give my residuary estate, which shall not include any property over which I have power
of appointment, to my spouse, if then living on the day after the date of my death, or if my
spouse is not then living, per stirpes, to my descendants living at my death; provided,
however, that if any such descendant of mine has not reached legal age under the law of
the jurisdiction in which that descendant is domiciled at the time of distribution under this
Article, then distribution of his or her share shall be made to the person having legal
custody of said child, and such person shall represent the child, receipt for and hold the
child’s share for his or her benefit.
As we discussed, your residuary estate is that property you have left over after giving away
specific items, such as your personal property, and after taxes and expenses. A power of
appointment is a right to give someone else's property away. For instance, Tom's father
may have created a trust for Tom, but after Tom dies, he is allowed to appoint who should
get the trust. If you have a power of appointment, you must specifically refer to it and state
how you wish to exercise it. The other term you may not be familiar with is the Latin term
per stripes. To distribute something to your descendants, per stripes, you would go to the
next generation in which you have living descendants. Your residuary estate would then
be divided into as many shares as you have living descendents at that generation and into
as many shares as you have pre-deceased descendants who left living descendants. As an
example if Tom has two living children and one child who is deceased but left children
living, Tom's residuary estate would be divided into one-third for each of the two living
children and the deceased child's children would split the remaining one-third.
ARTICLE IV
B. In addition to all powers granted by the laws of the State of Anystate, I give my
personal representatives power, exercisable in the discretion of my personal
representatives and without court order, to retain, sell (at public or private sale), exchange,
lease for any term (even though commencing in the future or extending beyond the date of
final distribution of my estate), mortgage, pledge, or otherwise deal for any purpose with
the property, real or personal, from time to time comprising my estate, for such
consideration and on such terms (with or without security) as my personal representatives
shall determine; to invest in any property whatsoever; to compromise or abandon any
claims in favor of or against my estate; to hold any property in the name of a nominee or in
bearer form; to employ accountants, depositaries, attorneys, and agents; to execute
contracts, notes, conveyances, and other instruments, including instruments containing
covenants and warranties binding upon and creating a charge against my estate, and
containing provisions excluding personal liability; to make distributions wholly in cash or
in kind, or partly in each; to allot different kinds or disproportionate shares of property or
undivided interests in property among the beneficiaries; and to determine the value of any
property distributed in kind.
C. I empower my personal representatives to make such elections under the tax laws as
my personal representatives deem advisable, including an election to create qualified
terminable interest property for both estate and generation-skipping tax purposes or for
estate tax purposes alone. Any decision made by my personal representatives with respect
to the exercise of any tax election or the allocation of my GST exemption shall be binding
and conclusive on all persons.
This article appoints a person to take control of your estate after your death. This person,
the personal representative is sometimes referred to as an executor or administrator. In
this will, Tom appointed his wife Gene, and if she is unable, he appointed his brother
Ted. If you wish, you can appoint two people, they do not need to be related to you, but
they should live near you so they can take physical control of your assets. This article
gives the personal representative the right to do certain things, states that they serve
without bond, and that the person should be paid a customary amount.
ARTICLE V
For purposes of determining who is a descendant, child or issue of mine or of any other
person:
A. Legal adoption before the person adopted reached the age of twenty-one years shall be
the equivalent in all respects to blood relationship; and
B. A person born out of wedlock and those claiming through that person shall be deemed
to be descendants (i) of the natural mother and her ancestors, and (ii) if the natural father
acknowledges paternity, of the natural father and his ancestors, in each case unless a
decree of adoption terminates such natural parent's parental rights.
An article like this can literally save a hundred million dollars. It seems a rather wealthy
gentleman had an illegitimate child who sued for his share of the estate. The other kids
were surprised, and upset.
ARTICLE VI
If my spouse predeceases me, then I name Brother Ted Sample and his Wife Sue,
presently of Ourtown, as guardian(s) and, if necessary, as conservator(s) for each child of
mine who has not reached legal age under the law of the jurisdiction in which the child is
domiciled at my death. If two persons are named, and if either of them for any reason fails
or ceases to act as either a guardian or a conservator, then the other of them shall act as
sole guardian or sole conservator, as the case may be. No bond or other security shall be
required of a guardian or conservator acting under this Article.
If you have minor children, it is very important you let everyone know who you want to
raise them if you die. This may be the most important part of your will.
_________________________________________________
Tom Sample
On the date last above written, we saw Tom Sample, in our presence, sign the foregoing
instrument at its end. He then declared it to be his will and requested us to act as witnesses
to it. We then, in his presence and in the presence of each other, signed our names as
attesting witnesses, believing him at all times herein mentioned to be of sound mind and
memory and not acting under constraint of any kind.
_________________________________________________
Witness
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Address
_________________________________________________
Witness
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Address
State of Anystate
_________________________________________________
Tom Sample
_________________________________________________
Witness
_________________________________________________
Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by Tom Sample, the testator; and
subscribed and sworn before me by_____________________________________, and
__________________________________________, witnesses, this _____ day of
___________________________, 2002.
___________________________________________________
This last part of the will is called a self proving affidavit. When a will is admitted to
probate a witness usually signs an affidavit that he did in fact see the decedent sign the
will. In this case, we have the witnesses sign the affidavit and attach it to the will so it is
ready when needed.