Posts in category: Will

Having a will is one of the most important ways for you to outline what is key for you in your estate plan. You can use a will for multiple purposes in estate planning, such as naming a guardian for a minor child and distributing your property.

Skipping a will could be a big mistake especially if your state’s intestate succession laws do not align with how you would have transferred your own property. Check out your state’s rules to determine which pieces of your probated estate may be passed on to loved ones. Two thirds of people do not have a will, which means that if they were to pass away, their estate would pass specifically through various state laws with intestate succession. This can generate many different questions for your loved ones and there is no changing it after the fact.

Creating a will doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Working with the right estate planning lawyer near you gives you the opportunity to discuss your assets and liabilities and which of these are associated with your probate estate. From there, an attorney can help you name specific assets or more general portions of your estate that should be given to particular people.

When you have a valid will in place, it makes it much easier to transfer your assets to your loved ones in accordance with your individual wishes. Work with a NH estate planner to help begin this process and address all the most important needs in your plan.

Your will is essential for ensuring that your wishes are honored once you pass away. Without it, the state determines what happens to your property. Think of your will as an instruction document for directing key people.

Most people are familiar with the basic concept of a will. It is used to name not just a guardian for your minor children, but also to name the important people who will serve as your executor or personal representative and what happens to your property. A will, in this way, provides direction to your family members during a tough time. When you leave assets to heirs using a will, you may not recognize how complicated this process can still be.

You need a legally valid and clear will to help direct your personal representative or executor on how to dispose of your property. The will must be clear because the executor or personal representative has a layer of personal liability, meaning they could be accused of malfeasance and pursued via lawsuits.

It is essential to ensure that you provide clear instructions about what they should give and to whom and verify that these instructions do not contradict any other estate planning documents you have.

For example, suppose that you listed what you wanted to happen to retirement account funds in your will. These retirement funds pass outside of your will through the management of the account directly. You must file beneficiary forms with those account managers to ensure they have the proper information to transfer this material. Consult a knowledgeable and qualified estate planning attorney to help you with this process. Our New Hampshire or Maine estate planning lawyers can assist.

Most people recognize that estate planning requires a will for the vast majority of people, but when does a will not go far enough and potentially even leave you exposed to unnecessary problems for your loved ones?

Recognizing when a will doesn’t go far enough should prompt you to meet with your knowledgeable estate planning lawyer. A will doesn’t avoid probate, which is one of the biggest reasons many people choose to work with an estate planning attorney.

A common way to bypass probate instead is to generate a revocable living trust and then ensure that all of the assets you place in the trust have been retitled and have transferred ownership. With a revocable living trust, you still maintain control over the assets but you can name a successor trustee to take over after you pass away. The successor trustee can distribute your property without the involvement of a court.

A New Hampshire will is a starting point, but it might not be where you stop with your planning process.

There are other ways to pass on property, but you should always discuss this directly with your estate planning attorney to determine that you have used the appropriate strategies and tools available to you with consideration for both state and federal level impacts that could potentially change your estate planning goals or the outcomes you achieve. You need someone who will be there to guide you through the process and can help you make adjustments to your plan as needed.

All states have specific laws about what counts as a legally valid will and it is important to be aware of the specifications before crafting your own will. A consultation with an experienced and dedicated New Hampshire estate planning lawyer can help you avoid many of the most common missteps that could lead to will contests and will challenges in the future.

In order to finalize a will in New Hampshire, you must sign the will in front of two witnesses and the witnesses must sign your will in front of you, per New Hampshire RSA 511:2. It’s a good idea to have a lawyer in your corner from the time you decide to draft a will so that you feel confident all your concerns are covered.

You do not have to have your will notarized in New Hampshire in order for it to be legal. New Hampshire does enable you to use a self-proving will but if you intend to go this route you will need to go to a notary to do that.

A self-proving will is often recommended to speed up the process of probate because the court is able to accept the will as legally valid without contacting the witnesses who were present at the time you signed it.

You will need to visit your notary and sign an affidavit stating who each of you are and that each of you knew you were signing a will. If you have questions about creating or revoking a will in New Hampshire, it’s advisable to speak first with an experienced estate planning lawyer.