One of the most important legal activities each of us faces is deciding how, after our death, our assets will be used and who will benefit from them. Estate planning and the writing of a will is a deeply meaningful way to make a powerful statement with these assets. However, a great number of people die "intestate" (without a will). When that happens the state or others decide for us where and how the estate will be distributed. If your preferences have not been clearly stated in a will, then it is likely that those preferences will not be carried out. It is, therefore, vital that you have a will. It is a wonderful way of expressing your love to the people and organizations you cherish. It is a way to take control of your assets, and make a positive statement.
Guidelines to Consider When Writing a Will
There are four "P's" of estate planning:
1. People: Consider all the people who are important to you and for whom you'd like to provide. This might include your spouse, children, relatives and friends.
2. Property: Consider all property that you own including bank accounts, real estate, stocks, bonds, life insurance, pension plans and personal property.
3. Plans: Ask yourself how you'd like to provide for the people in your life, and how you can make this happen. Will the people who are important to you be provided for in the future? Will you have enough income to manage during your retirement years?
4. Planners: Who are the people who will help you with your financial goals? Consider attorneys, accountants, bank trust officers, stock brokers and insurance agents to help you meet your financial goals.
Tips on Naming Beneficiaries
Understand the limits of a will.
Know when beneficiaries are required.
Decide who gets what.
Don't name your estate as a beneficiary.
Don't name minor children as beneficiaries.
Consider setting up a trust.
Think about tax ramifications.
Name contingent beneficiaries.
Keep everything up-to-date.
Make copies.
FAQ
Q: I don't have a will, where do I start?
A: As a will is a legal document, it is strongly recommended that you consult your solicitor.
Q: What about home-made wills?
A: Home-made wills can be disastrous. You may omit particularly important details, or inadvertently write sections in a way that can be misinterpreted. Making a will with the help of your solicitor is the only way you can be sure that your wishes will be followed after you die. By drafting a will with a professional, you will save your family a lot of extra worry.
Q: What can I include in my will?
A: Wills aren't solely about passing on your assets. You can also include specific funeral arrangements: for instance, burial, cremation, or the use of your body for medical research. You may also want to appoint legal guardians to care for your children if you and your partner should die before they are 18.
Q: Who do I appoint as Executors?
A: One other important consideration when writing your will is the appointment of your Executors - the people who deal with your estate in the event of your death. Ideally, these should be business-minded family or friends or professional advisers.
Glossary of Terms
Administrators. Those appointed to administer an estate where there is no will or no executor.
Bequest. Same as "Legacy".
Beneficiary. A named individual or organisation who benefits from your Will.
Codicil. A document making minor changes to your Will. Must be signed and witnessed in the same manner as your Will.
Crown. This means the Treasury, where your money will go if you have no next of kin and did not make a will.
Estate. Everything belonging to you, and owed to you, at the time of your death.
Executors. Referred to in your Will as trustees. These are the people you appoint to deal with all your affairs after your death.
Guardians. Those you appoint to care for your children until they reach the age of eighteen years.
Intestacy. A person is said to die intestate if he dies without making a valid Will.
Pecuniary. Legacy Specific sum of money given by a Will.
Probate. A procedure, required under law in most cases, to establish formally whether you left a legally valid Will and who your executors will be.
Residuary Legacy. The residue of an estate, or a share in it.
Residue. The remains of your estate after payment of all debts, expenses, tax and distribution of pecuniary and specific legacies
Specific Legacy. A tangible item, such as a gold watch or an engagement ring.
Testator. The person making the Will.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Look before you take the leap into pre-paid legal services
These are some of the question you should ask if you are considering a
pre-paid legal plan.
What is covered? Legal plans are offered in different models and differ in
the specifics of what they cover. While phone consultation and simple
drafting and reviewing of simple contracts are included across the board,
more elaborate and complicated legal matters are not covered.
It’s best to review your own legal needs before you choose a legal plan.
Ask which legal services will you need most and then choose a plan that
provides the best coverage given those needs. For instance, if you are a
business owner, lawsuits, lease and contract negotiations could be high on
your list and you would be looking for a legal plan that provides coverage
accordingly.
What legal coverage do I already have? Don’t pay for coverage twice! If
you
have car insurance, then you are covered for liability and medical
protection, home insurance covers you for injuries sustained on your
property… Your existing insurance policies already cover some of your
legal costs and there is no need to pay for that coverage when you select
with a legal plan.
Does the company have an in-house procedure to handle complaints? One of
the stumbling blocks of pre-paid legal services is quality of service.
Newly-licensed attorneys, phone calls not getting answered and that
ointment on any client –lawyer relationship: fee disputes, typically
involving bills made to your credit car to cover for services not included
in your contract… This is just a specimen of the many problems people face
with their plan providers.
Make sure you select a plan that has clear guidelines as to how to settle
dispute when they arise. A company that has a good in-house mechanism to
handle complaints will generally assign a senior attorney with the
authority to handle customer complaints of and disputes with any attorneys
in the network. Secondary sources of resolution may include your state
insurance department or bar association. Check their outlet for complaints
against pre-paid services.
What is the quality of the work they provide? You’ll need to do some
homework before you select your legal provider. Ask these questions:
What’s the firm’s reputation in my area? How many years have they been
in business? Have they been operating in my local area for at least a year
without complaints? How skilled are they attorneys? Do they cover the
locale where my business operates? Some good places to start your
background research are your state bar association, the Better Business
Bureau and the Consumer Affairs Office.
pre-paid legal plan.
What is covered? Legal plans are offered in different models and differ in
the specifics of what they cover. While phone consultation and simple
drafting and reviewing of simple contracts are included across the board,
more elaborate and complicated legal matters are not covered.
It’s best to review your own legal needs before you choose a legal plan.
Ask which legal services will you need most and then choose a plan that
provides the best coverage given those needs. For instance, if you are a
business owner, lawsuits, lease and contract negotiations could be high on
your list and you would be looking for a legal plan that provides coverage
accordingly.
What legal coverage do I already have? Don’t pay for coverage twice! If
you
have car insurance, then you are covered for liability and medical
protection, home insurance covers you for injuries sustained on your
property… Your existing insurance policies already cover some of your
legal costs and there is no need to pay for that coverage when you select
with a legal plan.
Does the company have an in-house procedure to handle complaints? One of
the stumbling blocks of pre-paid legal services is quality of service.
Newly-licensed attorneys, phone calls not getting answered and that
ointment on any client –lawyer relationship: fee disputes, typically
involving bills made to your credit car to cover for services not included
in your contract… This is just a specimen of the many problems people face
with their plan providers.
Make sure you select a plan that has clear guidelines as to how to settle
dispute when they arise. A company that has a good in-house mechanism to
handle complaints will generally assign a senior attorney with the
authority to handle customer complaints of and disputes with any attorneys
in the network. Secondary sources of resolution may include your state
insurance department or bar association. Check their outlet for complaints
against pre-paid services.
What is the quality of the work they provide? You’ll need to do some
homework before you select your legal provider. Ask these questions:
What’s the firm’s reputation in my area? How many years have they been
in business? Have they been operating in my local area for at least a year
without complaints? How skilled are they attorneys? Do they cover the
locale where my business operates? Some good places to start your
background research are your state bar association, the Better Business
Bureau and the Consumer Affairs Office.
Limitations of Pre-Paid Legal Services
Pre-paid legal plans are promoted under the promise of cheap legal
coverage, an attractive alternative to the high fees charged by regular
attorneys and law practices. But under the gloss of accessible legal
services for the general public, lie a number of limitations.
First, there is a limit on the scope of the legal services provided. Most
of what is provided on an unlimited-basis is phone based: calls to your
attorney for advice and consultation on legal matters, or phone calls made
on your behalf to third parties. Other benefits bundled in the plan are
limited: regular visits to your attorney’s office is restricted to a dozen
or so hours per month, the wills you want drafted or sample contracts
reviewed will be carried out on two or three copies per year. More complex
legal matters involving more time and effort on the part of your attorney
are not provided outright. If you need representation in a court for a
lawsuit on the recovery of damages, or a complex lease contract reviewed
and approved, then you have to pay regular lawyer fees. Some discounts of
up to 25% apply, but you could get the same discounts if not better by
the simple virtue of simple negotiations and clever comparison shopping.
Second is the restriction on your choice of attorney and the quality of
legal work provided. Although you are free to choose your own attorney,
client-lawyer relationship and the building of rapport are harder to come
by in this scheme.
Pre-paid legal plans are fraught with the “rookie” syndrome: the providers
usually resort to employing newly-licensed or trainee attorneys in a
cost-cutting exercise. Someone who does mostly wills, trusts and sample
contracts is probably not a good fit for a more complex legal issue like
the custody of children. In this day of age of increasing specialisation,
it is better to ask someone with specialised knowledge and years of
experience then it is to rely on a novice with a limited professional
track-record.
If you go down the traditional way, then there is restricted “pool of
attorneys” you can choose from. Your research will be easier and a lot
more comprehensive. You can set up interviews with lawyers, ask for
referrals from friends, previous customers or check your local bar
association. You are more likely to get a top-notch lawyer with who to
build rapport get competent advice and trust the judgement.
coverage, an attractive alternative to the high fees charged by regular
attorneys and law practices. But under the gloss of accessible legal
services for the general public, lie a number of limitations.
First, there is a limit on the scope of the legal services provided. Most
of what is provided on an unlimited-basis is phone based: calls to your
attorney for advice and consultation on legal matters, or phone calls made
on your behalf to third parties. Other benefits bundled in the plan are
limited: regular visits to your attorney’s office is restricted to a dozen
or so hours per month, the wills you want drafted or sample contracts
reviewed will be carried out on two or three copies per year. More complex
legal matters involving more time and effort on the part of your attorney
are not provided outright. If you need representation in a court for a
lawsuit on the recovery of damages, or a complex lease contract reviewed
and approved, then you have to pay regular lawyer fees. Some discounts of
up to 25% apply, but you could get the same discounts if not better by
the simple virtue of simple negotiations and clever comparison shopping.
Second is the restriction on your choice of attorney and the quality of
legal work provided. Although you are free to choose your own attorney,
client-lawyer relationship and the building of rapport are harder to come
by in this scheme.
Pre-paid legal plans are fraught with the “rookie” syndrome: the providers
usually resort to employing newly-licensed or trainee attorneys in a
cost-cutting exercise. Someone who does mostly wills, trusts and sample
contracts is probably not a good fit for a more complex legal issue like
the custody of children. In this day of age of increasing specialisation,
it is better to ask someone with specialised knowledge and years of
experience then it is to rely on a novice with a limited professional
track-record.
If you go down the traditional way, then there is restricted “pool of
attorneys” you can choose from. Your research will be easier and a lot
more comprehensive. You can set up interviews with lawyers, ask for
referrals from friends, previous customers or check your local bar
association. You are more likely to get a top-notch lawyer with who to
build rapport get competent advice and trust the judgement.
Legal Plans
What if you could pick up the phone and call an attorney to get advice
about any and all legal matters of interest to you? The attorney would
draft your will, review it and update it for every other year, make phone
calls and write letters on your behalf negotiate your contracts and
represent you in court. If you are traveling in another state and need any
form of legal advice, he will refer you to a competent attorney in that
state for no extra cost to you.
This all seems great on paper, but the mere thought of paying hundreds of
dollars an hour to put an attorney on retainer is enough to persuade most
people not to seek legal coverage.
You will be surprised to know that such coverage does indeed exist under
an arrangement similar to your health or insurance plan. Pre-paid legal
plans offer you access to all these legal services, for a monthly charge
of $10 to $25. If you are employed, you may incur no charge if your
employer provides legal services as a fringe benefit.
Are you thinking of getting on the pre-paid bandwagon? Choosing a
particular enrolment method can be very important in determining the
benefits, costs and conditions of coverage of your legal plan.
A voluntary enrolment refers to a membership of a legal plan where people
“voluntarily” subscribe to a pre-paid legal service in response to a direct
email offer, during an employer’s open enrolment period or during
individual sales representations. In this arrangement, you pay the prepaid
charge, get the standard discounts open to all other members of the plan
and get the coverage as per the terms and conditions of the plan.
In a group plan, all members are automatically included in the plan because
of their status as a group. For instance, many employees enjoy a 100%
participation in legal plans sponsored by their employers. They do not have
to pay any pre-paid charge or premium, as legal coverage in the work place
is now regarded as an employee fringe-benefit.
Some universities also provide legal coverage for their students, financing
the plans from their general tuition fees.
about any and all legal matters of interest to you? The attorney would
draft your will, review it and update it for every other year, make phone
calls and write letters on your behalf negotiate your contracts and
represent you in court. If you are traveling in another state and need any
form of legal advice, he will refer you to a competent attorney in that
state for no extra cost to you.
This all seems great on paper, but the mere thought of paying hundreds of
dollars an hour to put an attorney on retainer is enough to persuade most
people not to seek legal coverage.
You will be surprised to know that such coverage does indeed exist under
an arrangement similar to your health or insurance plan. Pre-paid legal
plans offer you access to all these legal services, for a monthly charge
of $10 to $25. If you are employed, you may incur no charge if your
employer provides legal services as a fringe benefit.
Are you thinking of getting on the pre-paid bandwagon? Choosing a
particular enrolment method can be very important in determining the
benefits, costs and conditions of coverage of your legal plan.
A voluntary enrolment refers to a membership of a legal plan where people
“voluntarily” subscribe to a pre-paid legal service in response to a direct
email offer, during an employer’s open enrolment period or during
individual sales representations. In this arrangement, you pay the prepaid
charge, get the standard discounts open to all other members of the plan
and get the coverage as per the terms and conditions of the plan.
In a group plan, all members are automatically included in the plan because
of their status as a group. For instance, many employees enjoy a 100%
participation in legal plans sponsored by their employers. They do not have
to pay any pre-paid charge or premium, as legal coverage in the work place
is now regarded as an employee fringe-benefit.
Some universities also provide legal coverage for their students, financing
the plans from their general tuition fees.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)