Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Would like to hear from folks who have made out their will....

....especially ones that were “complicated”.

I’m 55, single, no children, net worth a little over $1M. I’ve been in a relationship with a great gal for 12 years and she would inherit the majority of my estate. I have a niece that I want to leave some money to, and there is a female friend of 40 years that I want to include in my will (current girlfriend will be pissed about that, but oh well, I’ll already be dead).

I am stumped on how to divide it up. Should I simply list percentages and leave it to them (or a separate Personal Representative) to liquidate my property to cash and then divide it?

Who has been through this process? I know I need an attorney, but I would like to have a plan before I hire one. Thanks.

Lawyer up.

Family Law, type.

You will want your wishes watertight. Anything with beneficiaries directives such as a 401k will be automatically done. Property shared in common opens another set of doors depending on the state or states involved.

Lawyer up.

This is not the place to get good advice on that issue. Get a lawyer.

Currently, girlfriend is beneficiary on the big 401k. Girlfriend is TOD on my car title. Niece is beneficiary on the Roth IRA.

Right now I have nothing covering my house & contents or my one rental house.

Thanks. I’m not asking anyone here to write a will for me - just trying to learn what has or has not worked well for others.

We have family and went with a living trust to avoid headaches and tax burdens.

Good advice above, get an attorney to write it up exactly how you wish in a nice binding legal document.

2nd vote for living trust with a non involve to administer it. Cheers NC

But it is a good place to get an idea for the kind of questions one should be asking their lawyer.

If your Niece is TOD on your car, there's a decent chance you can do the same on the house in your state.

It would be best if you just figured out what you want to do with it. Is the niece pretty close to you-- as in emotionally? How great is your relationship and same for your friend of forty years? A simple answer is thirds. But that probably isn't the right answer. Good luck, and see the lawyer-- maybe he/she can help.

Pick an attorney and put the question to him as you did in the opening post. He will give you the options available in your state and a run down of the legal advantages and disadvantages. He will likely pair you with a financial expert to help minimize any tax issues.

I did this way back in my early 20's when I was single. I was comparitively well off in assets and possessions though not necessarily cash. I am an only child and my folks were well set financially so my assets were not really needed. I had a handful of friends and relatives I wished to leave with something and the rest was to go to a charity. I laid out my wishes and my attorney laid out the options.

we recently sought out a law firm that specializes in estate planning. They walked us through every step, A to Z, Cost was about three grand.

For about $800 we had ours done. Minor complications include our Future trust for the kids and with that, details on allowances for the guardian and their family, then how to incorporate the farm trust and my folks trust

Fairly painless on our end

savage24:
Good evening to you sir, I hope that the day's been a good one for you and this finds you well.

If I may, I'd like to send a sincere tip of the hat for doing some estate planning and putting a good will in place. It's a bit of a quest with me after having friends and co-workers go through the outer edges of Hades with loved ones who've passed without one.

Honestly I believe a good will/estate plan is the most unselfish thing we can do.

Ours was fairly straight forward, but we did go through a lawyer in order to get all the details of our wills, Representation Agreement and Power of Attorney's all hammered out.

We tend to think of wills only and that we'll be gone, but the sad fact is that we may have a life event - stroke or auto accident - which means we'll be here in body but not necessarily mind - and we need to plan to that as well.

If you go to a lawyer who specializes in wills - we were recommended one and were pleased - they'll ask you the right questions as well.

One of the things we've done for our girls who will be our beneficiaries is supply a list of phone numbers, contact information and account numbers so they'll have an easier time finding the accounts and investments.

Again, kudos for planning ahead sir, hopefully that was useful and hopefully you won't need it for some time to come.

Dwayne

TOD is good but not always appropriate.
But a separate TOD account could take care of the old GF and, if done right, the current wouldn't need to know.
I wouldn't want current GF and old GF in a will together.

Figure out what you want to accomplish and see the lawyer.

If you start getting recurrent abdominal cramps, it could ethylene glycol. Coffee will mask the flavor of Prestone.

I strongly suggest a good estate lawyer, one who is well versed in setting up what you want.

L.W.

spend all you have on booze and whores. then no problems.

My parents had a living trust.
My wife an I have a living trust.

You can be charged a lot of money by an attorney that just makes mistakes.

Start reading about what an estate planning attorney does, before you hire one.

Do you anticipate a dispute between the 3 heirs that would constitute anything heavier than your wishes written out and registered? Sounds like your gal and the long time friend may be at war after your passing. Having first hand experience with that situation if your gal is that special you may want to clue all 3 in how things will go down when you do pass. The reading of a will with a surprise ending is when all the animosity comes forth and it sounds like you care for all 3 women in your life. In my opinion, which you asked for , I would get that part cleared up and would make a will a lot easier.

M