Top Reasons You Should Make a Will Today
Life is brimming with uncertainties, surprises, challenges, and difficulties that leave us reeling in shock. For most of our lives, the desire to create security and stability for our loved ones consumes us entirely. We want to leave behind something substantial to make our parents, partners, and children secure. We plan extensively and try to micro-manage every aspect of our lives to lead it exactly how we desire.
The time to plan for your future is now, while you still have a say in it. Death could always lurk around the corner and take everyone by surprise one day – even if they are constantly planning their lives out loud! Why should you consider making a will today? Keep reading to find out.
Ensuring security & convenience for your loved ones
Dealing with the death of a loved one is a profoundly agonizing process, and family members struggle for months and years. The emotional trauma and stress heighten when death and loss accompany lengthy and complicated courtroom battles. You don’t want your loved ones fighting for their rightful inheritance simply because you neglected to create a will.
Nearly all estates pass through probate court to initiate asset distribution and inheritance handling legal proceedings. Estates without a will pass through a complicated and long-drawn process called intestate administration.
Creating a will today will help your family escape the trauma, financial drain, and struggles of courtroom battles. Under this process, the court appoints an administrator to handle estates without a will and ensure lawful asset distribution. You can choose the administrator you trust to oversee your estate and make the process less contentious for your family.
A will streamlines all legal processes, allowing your children, partner, and inheritors to gain their rightful inheritance without any complications. The absence of a will leads to a time-consuming and exuberantly expensive process of securing estate rights. Most families struggling with grief and trauma succumb to the pressure or fall prey to fraudsters trying to manipulate them.
Nominating a Will Executor
Suppose you want to ensure that your assets are distributed evenly amongst your children and loved ones. In that case, nominating an executor is the best way to ensure your wishes are honored after you have departed this world.
You don’t need to possess million-dollar assets to create a will and nominate an executor. Even seemingly meaningless wishes, like donating your books to a library and relocating your pet, hold immense significance. It all boils down to responsibly handling your affairs and eliminating loose ends after your death. Most people wait until they develop a life-threatening illness or fear their days are numbered.
Executing a will is a job that comes with great responsibility and legal obligation. But death doesn’t always come with a time frame or an approximate lifespan shared by your doctor. At times, we encounter death when we are least prepared to die. And there’s great peace of mind in knowing there’s someone to handle our affairs sincerely and honestly when we’re gone.
The executor is responsible for liquidating your assets, closing your bank accounts, and distributing your assets. It’s wise to choose someone you trust to comply with your wishes, no matter how uncomfortable they might be. If you fail to choose an executor in your will, the court will appoint one to oversee the legal proceedings. And the court-appointed executor may or may not operate in your family’s favor.
Handling Inheritance and Asset Distributions
We work day and night to build our loved ones’ nest eggs, properties, and financial security. We are consumed by the desire to send our children to the best schools, colleges, and institutions. We splurge on giving our loved ones the best that life can offer. And yet, we neglect creating a will that will name our beneficiaries and ensure adequate asset distribution.
Most people focus on leaving behind a sizable inheritance for their heirs and beneficiaries, ignoring those who shouldn’t get anything. Creating a will is crucial to name beneficiaries for your wealth, properties, and estate. The executor handling your will has to take charge of asset distribution to ensure your beneficiaries inherit your estate.
A will can ensure that the people you don’t want to name as beneficiaries cannot stake a claim to your estate. Suppose you don’t want your spouse or children to deny an estranged child’s right to your estate. In that case, you can ensure that your spouse doesn’t get a share in your inheritance or a legal say in asset distribution.
Likewise, you can also control the asset distribution amongst your heirs, deciding who gets what. Suppose you don’t want to leave behind your assets to a child after years of sorrowful abandonment. In that case, you can ensure that the child or individual in question is excluded from your will. Creating a will is crucial in ensuring adequate asset distribution to all your heirs get their fair share.
Final Thoughts
People with small children have more significant reasons to compile their will and prevent their children from unprecedented crises. Creating a will is crucial to nominate a legal guardian to look after your children after your death. In most cases, the legal custody of the children passes on to the surviving parent. But if both parents are dead, the fate of children hangs on a will. And the absence of a will can create scores of challenges, often pushing children into the foster care system.
Creating a will isn’t as challenging as most people assume, especially if you don’t have excessive wealth and a complicated estate. You can breeze through the process and enjoy peace of mind of handling all your affairs adequately.
