How to use a simple will...

So what is a Simple Will?
It is what you first think about if you are married. Each of your wills is a "mirror image" of the other. And if your combined estates total under $1 million, this may be all you need.

This kind of simple will provides as follows:

Step 4 consists of everything that remains after steps 1 through 3, above. Usually, people want it this way: "If I die first, everything goes to my spouse. If my spouse has already died, all to my descendants, in equal shares, per stripes." (Latin for, "If a child dies before the parent, that child's children split the share.") The simple will are mirror images of each other.

People often ask what happens if a beneficiary of a specific sum or item under their will dies before they do. It is difficult to give a short, general answer - but the situation can lead to a dispute, unless you plan for it in your will.

The best solution to this potential problem is simply for the you to name a contingent beneficiary, in your will, in case the primary beneficiary does not survive you. Alternatively you can specify that if a beneficiary fails to survive, his/her share or item is to be included and distributed with the "residue" of the estate.

A question of many parents with young children is: "What happens if we both die at once?" The answer, of course, depends on whether any planning has been done. The most important planning, however, is practical, not legal.

1. Have you found a capable and willing guardian for the children and are they mentioned in your simple will?
2. Are funds available to support them and are they mentioned in the simple will?

Without a good answer to both questions, legal advice is not going to help much. Most simple wills prepared for you have a clause to deal with the "common disaster" situation. The simple will says, in effect, "All my property to my spouse, IF he/she survives me by at least 30 days. Otherwise, all to the children." (There's nothing special about using "30 days," but the period should always be less than six months. If it is longer, the tax-free status of the property transfer to the surviving spouse could be lost.)

But what if either or both of you have children from a previous marriage? In that case, your simple wills are very often not mirror images. Each you have probably brought individual property into the marriage. You might want your current spouse to have use of that separate property, too - if they survive. If your current spouse is already dead, though, each of you might wish to leave your separate property only to your "previous" children. It can then make a big difference who is presumed to die first.

This is where it all starts to get a little more difficult and is not then a simple will, it is then time to go off and find good advice having put some time and effort into all the possibilities that may occur and the outcomes that you want. With that a good lawyer should be able to help you.

Now the simple will is on of many types of wills out there. Below are some more…

Here are the list of different issues with Legal wills.

Also have a look at the pages on Trusts

Here are the list of different trusts.

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