Will's

[exNavyOffRec]

Question for those that have dealt with will's recently or might have experience on what I put below.

A bit of a background, my father in law is retired Army, has really no bills, a paid off small car, a paid off fairly new mobile home, and some savings. The only child he has is my wife.

His last will was done about 30 years ago and listed the primary person to receive the assets as my mother in law, and as a secondary as my wife, however my mother in law passed away several years ago.

Is it necessary or wise to have the will redone? Does it even matter as the only beneficiary that is alive will not change?

Thanks in advance.

 

[nittany03]

Attorneys will generally look at things for free before sending you an engagement letter detailing what they're agreeing to do and for what rate. Better you ask one of them than us.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Attorneys will generally look at things for free before sending you an engagement letter detailing what they're agreeing to do and for what rate. Better you ask one of them than us.

True, I was thinking that someone here may have dealt with something like this before, the few local attorney's I have known in the past have retired and moved. The good friend of mine that I remember talking about a similar situation and how his friend that was a retired attorney gave him some advice unfortunately passed away unexpectedly 2 months ago and so I don't have access to his attorney friend.

 

[nittany03]

True, I was thinking that someone here may have dealt with something like this before, the few local attorney's I have known in the past have retired and moved. The good friend of mine that I remember talking about a similar situation and how his friend that was a retired attorney gave him some advice unfortunately passed away unexpectedly 2 months ago and so I don't have access to his attorney friend.

I need to update my will at some point, but that's something I'd frankly be comfortable with just Googling or asking around for recommendations. A will is a will, and my last one was done by some random JAG. I don't have enough unique stuff or a unique enough situation to be looking for the best probate lawyer out there; any relatively competent one would do.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Due to a situation with my wife and her biological father, I had a similar discussion with a JAG. His advice was to always have a will. His take was that while there are laws that cover the process for settling an estate if no will exists, having an up to date will removes any ambiguity on what goes where.

It interesting because your situation is basically the example the lawyer used. What happens if he dies and then a ‘long lost child’ appears and disputes what happens with the estate. A will would negate said claim.

 

[zippy]

Question for those that have dealt with will's recently or might have experience on what I put below.

A bit of a background, my father in law is retired Army, has really no bills, a paid off small car, a paid off fairly new mobile home, and some savings. The only child he has is my wife.

His last will was done about 30 years ago and listed the primary person to receive the assets as my mother in law, and as a secondary as my wife, however my mother in law passed away several years ago.

Is it necessary or wise to have the will redone? Does it even matter as the only beneficiary that is alive will not change?

Thanks in advance.

Probably not technically, depending on state and status of the executor. You really should contact a local attorney where he resides to get their take on it. Either way, be prepared to expect financial institutions that wish to see copies of the will question whether or not that is it is the most recent will. Having had to deal with this recently, some financial institutions are easy to deal with when loved ones pass (NFCU), and others make things difficult (USAA) and outright terrible (Fidelity). Some states have weird rules like requiring proof of a paid funeral bill to process accounts, requirements to fill out state inheritance tax forms etc. the more SA you have on the process required by the specific locality prior to a family member passing, the better.

 

[kaldor2c7]

Question for those that have dealt with will's recently or might have experience on what I put below.

A bit of a background, my father in law is retired Army, has really no bills, a paid off small car, a paid off fairly new mobile home, and some savings. The only child he has is my wife.

His last will was done about 30 years ago and listed the primary person to receive the assets as my mother in law, and as a secondary as my wife, however my mother in law passed away several years ago.

Is it necessary or wise to have the will redone? Does it even matter as the only beneficiary that is alive will not change?

Thanks in advance.

I just went through an experience that involved a Trust (State of CA). Though rather different in context, the attorney/s made many "Parts" or "Addendums" to the original trust throughout the years which helped mitigate situations. I found the language to be rather transparent and easy to follow, but it begs to at least have an estate specialized attorney review it for loop-holes or conditions where the State might get involved.

 

[Hozer]

Schedule a consult with a trust and estates attorney in your father in laws' jurisdiction, usually free or a couple hundred dollars.
Use the State or local Bar association to get a referral, that is free.

We don't charge for consults and I wouldn't rely on a thirty-year-old piece of paper or the rules of intestacy.
I practice in Florida and in Federal court.

PM me if you need more direction.
Cheers.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Schedule a consult with a trust and estates attorney in your father in laws' jurisdiction, usually free or a couple hundred dollars.
Use the State or local Bar association to get a referral, that is free.

We don't charge for consults and I wouldn't rely on a thirty-year-old piece of paper or the rules of intestacy.
I practice in Florida and in Federal court.

PM me if you need more direction.
Cheers.

I second this part. Make sure you do the research that the attorney / firm has good reviews. I would say most "good" attorneys either offer free or low-cost consultations... many will offer the consultation fee go towards the actual service.

 

[Flash]

I am going through this right now and even though the will was up to date and several of us had copies we had the small complication of not having the original, signed will. More importantly thought several other things have cropped up though unexpectedly to include paying for some stuff out of pocket while the estate is being settled, having to hire a lawyer because you need to be a resident of the state where the deceased lived in order to do some of the estate stuff along with a few other things that would have been easier to settle before the person passed.

So my advice now is what others have already said, consult with a lawyer with experience in estates in your Father-in-law's local area to make sure you have all the legal ducks in a row.

 

[villanelle]

It is probably worth it to have a consultation. There may be other things to consider that a good attorney will bring up. Do any of his accounts have the MIL listed as a POD still, for example? If there is no POD, would it make sense to add your wife as such? (POD can be nice because it can be potentially be used to cover unexpected expenses from settling the estate.) Is she the listed beneficiary on any life insurance policies that never got updated? Is your wife the executor?

 

[Anthony2000]

Question for those that have dealt with will's recently or might have experience on what I put below.

A bit of a background, my father in law is retired Army, has really no bills, a paid off small car, a paid off fairly new mobile home, and some savings. The only child he has is my wife.

His last will was done about 30 years ago and listed the primary person to receive the assets as my mother in law, and as a secondary as my wife, however my mother in law passed away several years ago.

Is it necessary or wise to have the will redone? Does it even matter as the only beneficiary that is alive will not change?

Thanks in advance.

Might be able to help with this. In the trust agreement there should be backup beneficiaries… “Per stirpes” is common to see as a backup… it means if that one individual passes it goes evenly amongst their kids, and the other beneficiaries get their portion as well.

If there is no backup then the one left or remaining will get it evenly. If no one is left then it goes to the courts and it’s a hassle.

PS. This is not in legal or financial advice but I do work in finance and get asked often about benes

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Schedule a consult with a trust and estates attorney in your father in laws' jurisdiction, usually free or a couple hundred dollars.
Use the State or local Bar association to get a referral, that is free.

We don't charge for consults and I wouldn't rely on a thirty-year-old piece of paper or the rules of intestacy.
I practice in Florida and in Federal court.

PM me if you need more direction.
Cheers.

Thanks!

It is probably worth it to have a consultation. There may be other things to consider that a good attorney will bring up. Do any of his accounts have the MIL listed as a POD still, for example? If there is no POD, would it make sense to add your wife as such? (POD can be nice because it can be potentially be used to cover unexpected expenses from settling the estate.) Is she the listed beneficiary on any life insurance policies that never got updated? Is your wife the executor?

Your info spurred some additional questions to my wife, it turns out she is already on his bank account and he consolidated them all into that one account, there is no life insurance, and the car and mobile home are the extent of the assets. The new will based on what else I found out should be fairly easy.

He lives 10 miles from us which makes the easier being in the same state.

Now I just need to do mine, and yes I should have done that years ago.

 

[Bergers2short]

Aside from getting a referral from your local bar association, the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils certifies attorneys that meet certain requirements. You can look for a certified attorney by zip code here: https://www.naepc.org/designations/estate-law/search#spec/EPLS

My Dad runs a wills and estates practice and went through the requirements for certification--it was no joke. He had to pass a proctored exam at the annual ABA wills and estates conference, have a number of recommendations from other attorneys, along with a certain amount of experience and continuing education specific to wills and estates administration. If you're looking for an attorney, I would recommend starting with their directory.

 

[Randy Daytona]

This was in the WSJ today and worth a read:

Your Will Alone Won’t Guarantee Your Money Goes to Your Heirs

Those beneficiary forms you filled out years ago can supersede your other estate plans.

www.wsj.com