Writing a will can seem stressful, but it is important. Taking care of your affairs is a huge help to your loved ones, who may need your money and support after you pass on.
Writing a will that meets all of the requirements for a valid will often requires a lawyer. Writing a will that is prepared for potential changes in your family or assets is also essential.
Call Flake & Flake’s will attorneys at (702) 829-5731 today for a free review of your needs.
Process of Drafting a Will
To write up a will, our will attorneys will sit down with you, discuss your needs and wants, and go over your financial and family situation to determine what you need your will to say.
Choosing Heirs
Who you want to leave your money and assets to is the biggest part of your will. The law in Nevada leaves everything to your spouse and children (or grandchildren) by default, then to other family.
By writing a will, you can choose who gets what. For example, you can include an unmarried partner, your friends, or your favorite charity.
Choosing Division
You can also customize how the assets are divided. For example, if you have a spouse and three children, the law typically gives 50% to the spouse and 50% split among the children. You can choose to instead do 25% to each of the four.
You can also choose to divide things differently as they pass down the branches of your family. For example, if you have a son with two children and a daughter with one child, you can choose to give 1/3 to each grandchild instead of 50% to each child (which eventually gives one grandchild 50% and the other two 25% each).
Planning for Changes
Depending on the ages and health of your family members, you may expect more heirs to crop up as you get older. Planning for future children, grandchildren, and other heirs is important, or else those born after your will is written might not get anything.
We can also plan for potential deaths and even things like divorces and remarriage.
Going Over Assets
We need to look at what assets you have to determine how they should be handled. Bank accounts and your home are the two biggest assets in most cases, but these often require special care:
- Large collections
- Businesses
- High-dollar investments
- Multiple properties.
Planning for Guardianship
If you have children under 18, then your will should also include plans for what happens to them if you pass. Who will take guardianship of them if you (and your spouse) both pass?
Picking a Personal Representative
Your will also decides your personal representative – the person who will be in charge of administering your estate, paying off your debts, and passing your assets to your heirs. This is usually a spouse, sibling, or child, but you can pick other people and name backups, too.
Does Everything Go into Your Will?
A will covers “probate assets.” You may need additional estate planning to cover other assets that can pass without a will.
Probate vs. Non-Probate Assets
Some assets are in joint ownership or have other rules about who owns them if you die, so they do not need to pass through your will in the “probate” process at all. These are called non-probate assets. This often includes
- Jointly owned homes
- Joint accounts
- Other jointly owned property
- POD and TOD accounts and assets
Everything else you own – from the furniture in your house to your car to the cash in your wallet – will be part of your “estate” and pass through probate.
Will Alternatives
There are ways you can set up money and assets to pass without a will. This can speed up your loved one’s access to your money after you pass and protect assets from creditors.
Some common techniques that work as a “will alternative” involve:
- Putting a spouse or other loved ones on the deed to your home
- Putting a loved one as a joint owner of an account
- Putting your assets into a trust that passes to another named trustee and beneficiary when you pass.
Setting Up Trusts
Many people wish to give money or property to loved ones, but they might not want to give them the money outright. This often happens for reasons like these:
- The recipient is a child and cannot manage large amounts of money on their own yet.
- The recipient is an adult who cannot be trusted to spend money wisely.
- The recipient cannot manage money because of a disability or health problem.
- The recipient is on disability programs that have asset limits and cannot accept the money without hurting eligibility.
In these cases, a trust might be the best option.
Creating a Trust
A trust is created by naming a trustee to manage the trust and a beneficiary to reap the benefits. You then “fund” the trust by putting money and assets into it.
The trustee continues to manage the funds, the beneficiary draws an income or gets things paid for by the trust, and your loved one is taken care of going forward.
Living Trusts
You can set up a trust for yourself while you are still alive, then have an heir take over as the beneficiary and/or trustee when you pass. This essentially works as a will alternative and protects the assets from probate.
Funding a Trust Through a Will
You can set things up so that when you pass, the money goes into a trust instead of going to the person directly. This can keep them benefitting from the money and assets without giving them total control.
Ending a Trust
You can also set up a trust to end when certain conditions are met. For example, if you want your grandchild to have the money in trust, managed by their parent, until they turn 18 – or until they graduate college – you can do so.
When the trust ends, you can have everything left in the trust go to the heir outright.
FAQs for Wills in Las Vegas
Do You Need a Will?
If you have major assets, a house, or children, you should probably have a will.
How Long Does it Take to Write a Will?
Setting up a will does not usually take that much time. We can often handle wills that are not too complex in two sessions (one to discuss the will and one to sign it). More complex situations take more time.
Call Our Attorneys for Wills in Las Vegas Today
For help, call (702) 829-5731 for a free case review with Flake & Flake’s attorneys for drafting a will.
