Wills: Keeping Your Will Document Updated is as Important as Creating It
Author: Melanie B. Holliman, JD
Having wills in place gives people a false sense of security. They often believe they can relax knowing their intentions will be taken care because the will document states their intentions for when they die. But life happens, and things change. As life evolves, it often negates the intended outcome of wills. When people fail to update their wills as life changes, they risk losing their assets and hurting their loved ones. It is important to review wills when you and any of your beneficiaries get divorced, have a child, pass away, become incapacitated, etc. We can help prepare and update wills.
Probate court rules whether or not wills are valid. It is also important to protect your assets from the potential ravages of probate, which can affect the timing and amount of assets the beneficiaries receive. The amount and availability of assets available to the beneficiaries is reduced by the probate process. We can help you avoid probate.
The experience of Alice and Ed, who were married for 20 years, provides a good example. After six years of marriage, they had a child, Patricia. Alice and Ed each created wills, leaving everything to the surviving spouse and designating the other for a financial power of attorney and a healthcare power of attorney. Later, Alice’s sister, Elena, was in a traffic accident that left her unable to care for herself. So, Alice and Ed bought a condo in their name for Elena and provided her with financial assistance. Eventually, Ed passed away, leaving his assets to Alice. She carried on taking care of Patricia and Elena. Then, Alice suffered a stroke and became incapacitated. Months later she passed away.
When Alice became incapacitated, she had not updated her designation of Ed as the financial power of attorney. This meant that nobody could access her assets to care for Elena and Patricia. When Alice died, she hadn’t changed her will to include her sister. The condo and funds that Elena relied on to survive were inherited by Patricia, who was a minor and unable to make decisions regarding those assets. Alice’s will and assets went through probate, which took nine months, depleted the value of the assets and delayed the assets getting to Patricia. All of these outcomes could have been avoided if Alice had updated her will when her sister was injured and again, updated her financial power of attorney after Ed died.
As wills and estates lawyers, if we had been consulted, we would have done several things to make sure Alice’s intentions were fulfilled and her assets were protected. We would have made her and Ed aware of the appropriate what if questions that should have been explored when making their wills. We would have advised them of ways to provide assistance to Elena that survived both their deaths while allowing them to maintain control over the assets while they were alive. We would have given them options for avoiding probate while providing immediate care for both Elena and Patricia.
If taking care of your loved ones after your death is important to you, contact us at (205) 663-0281 to schedule a consultation. Or, click here More About Wills to visit our website and find out more about wills and estates.
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