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

You will have to do it all over again if you ever get married.

I agree you have to have a lawyer, but you should also write a personal letter explaining your wishes. It is also a good idea to set the names in things like your 401K. A will, a letter, and intent written into things like a 401K make it clear what was intended.

Dying ain't easy. You should be prepared to list someone as your medical power of attorney and financial power of attorney. You will name an executor for your estate. A will doesn't go into effect until you die so the house or ira or whatever is subject to lawsuits or nursing home bills etc. Keep as much out of the estate as possible meaning give it to them before you die or at least make them benificary or co owner. Plan to upgrade your will yearly, this is important, chit happens, things change. We keep a handwritten letter in ours with a few personal requests that change from time to time.
Advise finding an attorney group, stay away from the 75 year old family lawyer.
Your doing all of this to make things easier for loved ones after your demise so while your at it pick out your headstone, buy a plot, and pay for your funeral.

Find a lawyer you feel comfortable with and start taking care of your will. Seems like we change - amend stuff every year.

With a net worth of a million, you need to set up a trust. Picking an executor might be the hardest part for you. We used an attorney who believes so strongly in the need for good planning that he gave the state teachers' union a special rate. We took advantage and could not be more relieved to have our wishes locked up tight. He set up a trust, wills, power of attorney, and living wills. We named our elder daughter as executor.

Go ahead and give money to the ex girlfriend now, same way with the niece. Marry the one your with, leave rest to her.

You need to talk with BMT, a Campfire member here.

He's an estate lawyer, and knows all the angles on planning a will.

I had him do a trust for me, and sure am glad I have my final wishes "in writing"

Virgil B.

We did it about three years ago, established a trust that contains our will. Met with an attorney that specializes in same. He gave us a questionnaire to complete. We completed, met with him twice to clarify some issues, and he produced a trust and will. We have a decent size estate and land in multiple states, so it’s a little more complex. In a total of two months it was done and cost $5000.

I am an estate planning attorney. PM if you'd like.to speak privately. I am not licensed in your jurisdiction so consider.it an offer of friendly advice.

We received recommendations for three estate planning attorneys from our Fidelity VP, did some research on them, interviewed them and selected one that we have been extremely pleased with. He ran us through a half day session to deeply understand our requirements, both financially and medically. He drafted the trust, reviewed it with us sorting out some details and "finalizing" it. He continually updates it as law changes and re-issues a new one every three years. He also set up a session with our three sons in attendance to explain the trust to them. We feel very comfortable with what we have done.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of a Ladybird Deed.

Wills are about as personal as it gets. Our first was in 75, the last about five years ago.

I read something years ago. Henry Ford running his estate from the grave.

Having gone through this with the deceased having a Trust & a Will.
Over 40 pages of directions.
Got all screwed up with the incompetent Trustee and Executor.
Judge finally ordered to them to follow wishes of deceased.
Most financial instruments have beneficiary named.
Real estate, house, personal property is where folks have problems.
Decide what you want, get a good lawyer to help you with legalities.
Name a competent executor.
They need to understand the legalities and have the time.
Good luck.

This thread hits home, I’m in almost the same boat!

I hereby bequeath my stack of herters catalogs, pickle jars, old fart hat collection and 3 barns full of rusty junk that everyone’s been on my ass for 30 years to clean up.


Don’t be that guy

First let me say that every state has different laws.
I'm single living in CA and here you really need a living trust so heirs are not tied up for years in the court system. House and bank,brokerage accounts are held in trust so that funds are available immediately to pay bills and the house can be sold. Retirement accounts and insurance have beneficiaries.

My children live 500 miles from me and have families with small children. The last thing I want to do is put more of a burden on them.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

As a Medicaid planning tool, I presume? Also, it is worth noting some states have enhanced estate recovery statutes meaning such a technique may not be valid for its intended purpose in some jurisdictions.

When my Mom passed she had bills kept from as far back as 1981.I also took 5 loads that squatted my F-250 of clothes to the Goodwill. I bet I made 10-15 loads total to donate from the massive amount of just crap my Mom had acquired over the years. Throw your junk out people so no one else has to deal with it. If I haven't used something in the last 5 years its gone. My wife gets mad sometimes but If i dont keep on top of it she'll have the whole place full of stuff. Also all the naked pictures and [bleep] you don't want your kids to see. Put in a box and write on top DO NOT OPEN UPON MY DEATH YOU WILL BE SCARRED FOR LIFE on it. Opened a box and got a nice eyefull of a bunch of nekkid pictures of her ex boyfriend and some other things i could have lived without seeing.

Not in my case but it is one use of the Ladybird Deed that is quite usefull in the states that allow it.

The transfer on death (TOD) for titles and the pay on death (POD) for bank accounts combined with the Ladybird Deed for home and land deeds pretty much eleminater any legal squable after someone with assets dies. Too bad all states don't allow it.
A guy can do most all of that without the need of a lawyer and nothing has to go through probate.
Kinda cuts the guy making a living creating wills for people right outta the loop.