FAQ Friday: Sections of a Will
On Friday, May 24th, attorney Candice Joy describes the sections of a Will.
The very beginning of the Will is the preamble which is a short section that introduces you. After this would include a short personal or faith statement if you choose to include one.
If not, the next one describes family information. Additionally, anyone you wish to disinherit.
Section two includes specific distributions and all the rest of your personal property. We use a personal property memorandum to list out these items.
The residuary estate is the bulk of the estate such as the house and accounts. This could list the beneficiaries and possibly their children.
If you have young children, you could do a children’s trust. You could also do your distribution to your adult children as outright or even as general trusts.
The next section is for remote contingents. This is who you set as a beneficiary is everyone else you specify pass before you.
Fiduciaries are your personal representatives. This will also list out designated guardians if your children are minors. If there is a trust, this section also designates trustees.
The details of bond are also discussed. Powers are described and what might happen is abused. Powers such as lending, borrowing, real estate etc are listed here.
The last section has more general provisions and definitions. It covers how you want your remains to be taken care of such as burial or cremation.
The very last is the signature section. You need to sign in front of two witnesses and then you need to watch those two witnesses sign. We also add an attestation for those that we believe have a chance of moving to another state.
Submit your question
Bring your questions about estate planning and administration to our weekly Facebook Live with Mr. Berger on Fridays at 11am EST. Leave your email if you’d like to receive a notification of our response.