A will can be a difficult topic to breach, particularly for young people. Typically, someone won’t start thinking about their will until they’re at least 50. Despite this, legal advisors suggest that a will should be made much sooner than this. However, since it’s not common practice to write your will ahead of middle age, not many people know the process of getting your will together.
In some cultures and religions, wills are extremely significant. For example, with Islamic wills, there are predetermined percentages of your assets that your family members are entitled to. Therefore, you must state otherwise in your will if the predetermined policies don’t suit your interests. So, how do you go about writing a will?
Consider the Assets You Own
First thing’s first, you’ll need to consider what you actually own. For example, if you’re married, many of your assets may be split between you and your spouse. Therefore, you wouldn’t be able to pass on these belongings to anyone in your will as you’re not the sole owner.
Decide How to Divide Your Assets
Ahead of the writing process, you’ll need to determine how your assets will be divided amongst your beneficiaries. The best way to do this is to make a list of each of your beneficiaries and note down the percentage of your estate that you wish them to receive. You’ll need to make certain that each of these adds up to 100% in total to ensure that all of your assets are accounted for.
Contemplate What Happens if a Beneficiary Dies Before You
No one wants to consider this, but you also need to think about what is going to happen if one of your beneficiaries dies before you. Therefore, you should name someone else in the instance that your initial beneficiary passes away.
Designate a Guardian to Children
If you have young children, you should also assign a guardian who will care for them before they reach the age of 18.
Decide How to Write the Will
Upon considering each of these factors, you can then begin the will writing process. At this point, you’ll need to decide whether you write the will yourself, use an online resource, or hire an attorney. Each of these has positives and negatives, you just need to decide which works best for you.
Identify Yourself in the Will
In order to securely validate your will, you should ensure that you’re properly identified within it. You should include your name, address, and social security number. For extra security, you might also include another form of ID and a date of birth.
Make the Required Declaration
In the first sentence, you should declare that you’re writing your last will and testament. This will help solidify that this is your final and official will that should be adhered to upon your death.
Nullify All Previous Wills
If you have previously written wills, you will need to nullify these to ensure that your final one is adhered to upon your passing. In order to nullify a will, you should declare a statement at the end, revoking, annulling, and canceling any previous wills.
Declare Your Mental Wellbeing
If you don’t declare your mental wellbeing upon writing your will, it could be challenged from a legal perspective. Therefore, you should declare that you’re of legal age and are sound of mind. This will confirm that you completely understand and agree to the terms of your will.
Include a Statement of Intent
A statement of intent declares that you weren’t influenced in any way when you were making your will. This confirms that the wishes in the will are your own, and you weren’t pressured into them by a third party.
