Tell me about Wills. A Will can be central to an estate plan. But it does not change title to any assets without going through probate in state court.
You do not hear that much from me about Wills because in my opinion, Trusts are better. Still, this time we are only going to talk about Wills.
Wills can be a little technical, but they do two main things:
- They say who gets your assets;
- They name an Executor.
Who gets your assets
A very common will might say, “everything to my spouse, or if they do not survive me, then divided equally among my children.” You can divide your assets by type or amount, but that is very common. You might just as quickly say “the farm to my oldest child, and all other assets and investments to my younger child.”
Name an Executor
The Executor is someone who handles your estate, marshalls assets, pays bills and claims, deals with the lawyer, and distributes assets. People often name their spouse as their first choice and it makes sense to name someone younger as an alternate.
How does my Will work?
Once you sign it, you save it … often in a safe or safe deposit box (and let someone know how to find it). It does not, in Kansas, get filed during your life. Once you pass away, it needs to be submitted to the state court for probate. Again, it does not pass titled assets until the Court accepts it for probate and orders the change in ownership.
Probate, very, very abbreviated.
File the Will, get Executor appointed, they file an Inventory of estate assets. Give notice to heirs, devisees and legatees and publish notice in newspaper that case was filed, including deadline for creditors to file claims. Once assets are accounted for, claims satisfied or denied, some combination of the Executor actions and court order is required to distribute assets of the estate. Every estate differs, but 6 months and a few thousand dollars in expenses and attorney fees are often involved fairly simple estates.
There you go — the bare bones without much opinion. Now you know what Wills do and how they work.
Tell me about Wills. A Will can be central to an estate plan. But it does not change title to any assets without going through probate in state court.