7 Things to Consider When Preparing a Last Will and Testament

By: James L. Hyer, Esq.

“Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift you can give your family.”

-Suze Orman

One of the most important decisions that individuals must make is how their affairs will be handled in the event they become incapacitated during life and how their estate will be distributed following their death. For individuals who are their family’s primary source of income, a lack of proper estate planning can financially devastate loved ones following their death. According to Lexis Nexis, approximately 55% of American adults do not have a Will or other estate plan in place despite the unquestionable importance of preparing an estate plan. When preparing a Last Will and Testament, there are 7 major items to consider:

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Disinheriting a Spouse: Rules and Limitations in New York State

 

An engraving created in 1894 by the artist Walter Dendy Salder called “The New Will: Everything to My Wife Absolutely!” vividly portrays an older man of wealth who has married a younger woman visiting an attorney to prepare their estate planning documents. The engraving stands for the assumption that a spouse would want to leave the other their entire estate. In reality, this is often not the case. There may be many reasons why one spouse may decide not to leave their entire estate to the other. Perhaps one spouse is on a second or third marriage and would like to leave a portion of their assets to