There are those with chronic disease or are old that would usually prepare a last will and testament in order for their properties to be given to proper heirs or inheritors. However, there are only a few people in the world that have a will, as many believe that preparing one can be worth plenty of money and could be a waste of time if there aren’t a lot of properties for your family members or friends to inherit. If you are one of those that don’t have a will, you should know by now that it is important to prepare one because it will allow you to plan out where and who to give your properties or belongings once you pass away since not having a will may cause problems for your family. Here are several reasons why preparing a will is important.
Choose Inheritors for Your Property and Assets
The number one reason why people prepare a will, as mentioned in the introduction, is for them to choose who will inherit their property and assets, and this ability to choose is important since there are certain laws that will allow unwanted inheritors (like an ex-spouse or a deadbeat father) to inherit the properties of a family member that passed away. In order to prevent this worst-case scenario from happening, some would write a will that indicates who will inherit the properties so that the law wouldn’t be able to control or dictate the inheritors. By creating a will, you will be able to give your assets to those that truly deserve them, even if they are not your family members.
Decide on Who Will Take Care of Your Children
For those with minor children that don’t have enough time to take care of them, preparing a will allow those people to choose who they trust to take care of their children. If there is no will prepared and the person passed away, his or her children will be taken care of by a surviving parent, who has legal custody over them. However, if both the parents passed away, the law will choose the guardian for the children, which can be problematic since family members that don’t like the children may be the ones chosen by the court to take care of them. If you don’t want this situation to occur to your children, you would need to prepare a will that indicates who will take care of your children if something happens to you.
Determine the Guardian for Your Pets
Besides children, the guardian for your pets can also be included in the will. This part of the will is also important since you wouldn’t want a family member that doesn’t like dogs or cats to inherit the dogs, as they may eventually give the animals to a dog pound. If you have any pets at home, make sure that you also include their guardians or inheritors in the will as the law also considers them as property.
Won’t Burden Your Loved Ones over Managing Your Properties
If you don’t prepare a will, there is a chance that your loved ones will be the ones that will manage and decide on who will be the inheritors of your assets, and this process would be quite stressful for them, especially if they are already busy with work or with their respective families. To prevent giving them stress and the burden to manage your properties, you should prepare a will so that a lawyer or an executor will be the one responsible for taking care of the assets rather than your friends or family members.
Leave Instructions for Your Funeral
Besides the ability to decide on who will take care of your assets, a will is also a way for you to choose how your funeral will go. You can leave funeral instructions in the will, such as wanting to be cremated or buried beside a loved one, and the executor will do his or her best to grant your wishes. However, funeral instructions aren’t legally binding, which means that your surviving family members may change how you will be buried. But, the chances of loved ones disagreeing with funeral instructions are rare, as they would usually respect the wishes of the person that passed away.
Prevent Family Disputes
The main dilemma with not having a will is that the absence of the document would usually result in family disputes in regards to who will get the properties or assets of a person that passed away, especially if those assets are expensive ones like cars, lands, and houses. Family disputes over properties would typically never end, like those that you may read in large inheritance stories, and the situation would even destroy the relationship between parents, siblings, and other family members. In order for this to not happen, you would need to have a will that will firmly indicate which family member will get certain assets. By determining the inheritors for every property you have, you will be able to prevent family disputes since they have no way of changing your will if they disagree with your wishes.
Preparing a will is an important task that you should do if you own plenty of assets, as this will save your loved ones from the stress, money, and court hearing of handling your properties. Even if you don’t have a chronic illness or aren’t an elderly person, you would still need to have a will prepared since you might not know what happens the next day. Consult with a lawyer to write your will and prepare the future for your loved ones.