Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
Before making a Florida will you should think these things before drafting or having your Florida will modified.
In Florida to create a valid will the person needs to know what assets they have, who they are giving them to, and have an understanding of who they would go to if they were not listed in the Florida Will.
In addition, there are specific execution requirements to make sure the resulting document is a valid Florida will. The Jersey Estate Planning Blog has a nice summary of what should be considered when creating a will.
I have adopted the issues to Florida, but in general they mention the following issues to consider when making a Will:
1) What assets will put into the Florida will.
2) Who you are going to leave your assets to;
3) Who will administer your will?
4) Who will care for (minor children) both financially and physically?
5) Who will witness the execution of your Florida Will
In addition, you may consider what how you would like your body dealt with upon your death. Although this can be placed in your Florida will, it is advisable to let others in your family, those who will make the decisions, know what your plans are. Generally, your will cannot be looked at by the time these decisions need to be made.
A Florida will is a very important document and careful attention should be paid to what it states and how it is executed. Unlike other documents that you may sign during your life, this document cannot be changed once you die. I like to contrast it to dying your hair, if you do not like the color you can seek the help of a professional, try again, let it grow out, or even cut it off and wait for your hair to re grow. With a Florida will or a will in any state, you do not have any of these options and your family, heirs, and beneficiaries do not get the chance to make changes because of unforeseen changes or poor choice of words.
Most people think a Florida Will is an expensive document to create, but generally they are not much more than what you would pay an online service. Many online services allow you to create documents that have unintended consequences. I have a section on this blog with many examples of estate planning problems created by the wrong choice of words. Before you create a Florida Will you should contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or a Florida Will Lawyer to discuss your needs and objectives.