Wills

[jm2857536]

You sponsor a company to give us discounts for wills, but don't give any idea as to what the average cost is of a super simple will like I die my wife gets everything, would be my will.

Or do you even have lawyers local to me that do cheap wills?

[TRL1111]

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@jm2857536 wrote:

Or do you even have lawyers local to me that do cheap wills?

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If you're looking at the links Gail gave, then I don't think it's a service where you meet with a local lawyer to write your will.  It looks like software used to create your own will, but I'm just guessing.

[GailL1]

Yes, it is soft ware (online) and you buy what you need - it is an AARP Member benefit - 20-25% off of (some) price.  

[GailL1]

Here ya go - 

AARP.gov - Member Benefits - TRUST & WILL ESTATE PLANNING 

make sure your read the “Disclaimer “ and note there was another discount at the bottom of this member plan - for a 25% discount but it expired today 912.31.2925)

If your Will is as simple as you state  - why not just make up one yourself - get a few whitenesses signature.  (2) 

Then it refers you to the company’s website which outlines th plans and gives the price and the AARP discounted price.

Trust and Wills.com - Trust & Will has you covered. ( see the bottom of this page for the AARP Wills and Trust.com pricing for members.)

The bottom of the AARP Trust and Wills website says there was a 25% discount instead of a regular 20% but it expired on 12.31.2025.

[TRL1111]

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@GailL1 wrote:

If your Will is as simple as you state  - why not just make up one yourself - get a few whitenesses signature.  

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Nobody should just write up something saying where they want their estate to go and get "a few" witnesses to sign it.  If someone refuses to pay a lawyer to do their will, then at the very least they should use some sort of will preparation software that is specific to their state, and that will presumably give the provisions necessary in order for the document to be accepted as a valid will.

In the OP's case, if he dies everything goes to his wife.  Presumably his wife will do the same--if she dies, everything goes to her husband.  That sounds simple.  But what if they die at the same time?  

[GailL1]

Depends on what they have to give away - if nothing but bank accounts or retirement account - one can use the beneficiary route to divide up or give away such monetary assets.  Of course, they have to be just in your name and usually without a spouse at least for retirement accounts. 

Now if there is other assets that are tangible, those can be done outside of a WILL or last wishes too using the deed transference method planned in advance.  This is why Medicaid long term care laws have a look back period so people need to get it done before this period of 5-years is upon them.

Even some individual stocks or funds have a way of passing shares along.  

It really all depends on the nature of the assets, number of heirs and how complicated one wants to make their Last Will and Testament.

Special bequest need to go the way of a WILL - so if you want to leave a specific person money or actually anything - it has to be enumerated specifically even hopefully a trail of where to find the item or who should be in charge of receiving the request.  

Once I had a person that wanted to give a set amount of their money to a family burial place - I had an awful time trying to find out who actually took care of this area - it wasn’t just for this particular family.  

It involved searching family records and locating people who had family members buried there.  I thought it would have been a local / nearby church - it wasn’t.  I tried to find somebody who knew the caretakers so I could contact them and find out who was paying them. 

But I was not close to the cemetery so I asked someone living close by to keep a watch out for the caretakers and I left these people my phone number to relay the info to me.  

Come Spring, I got a call from the company maintains the grounds and they gave me their pay contact - it was a church but one that was not close by.  They presented me with a paper stating they were in charge of paying for specific upkeep by a certain other family member and the board of family (many now deceased) who all had a hand in this at some time.

Of course, doing this in a simple way all depends on what it is - real estate and other property like a car has to be retitled so everything has to be finished completely.

One thing that is hard and I found out that people (heirs) don’t have to accept it since it involves cost to them going forward is a TIMESHARE.