Don’t leave your family with a badly written will

When attorney Jeanne Richter tells people her specialty — estate planning — their voices often drop to a whisper.

“They say, ‘You know, I don’t have a will,’ ” Richter says softly, laughing. “ I say, ‘That’s OK. I can take care of that.’ ”

Do you really need a will? That depends. If you have children younger than 18 or disabled adult offspring, the answer is emphatically yes: A will is the only legal document in which to designate a child’s guardian.

Otherwise, a will is more about kindness than necessity, a document that simplifies matters for those you leave behind. If you die without a will, your assets are immediately frozen and your estate administered in accordance with the rules of the probate court – a process than can be time-consuming and expensive.

So let’s assume you want a will. Must you hire an attorney to draw one up for you?

No, says Richter, who teaches estate planning at senior centers in Montgomery County.

Because there’s no set form a will must follow, you can create your own or use a software package specifically designed for this purpose.
Maryland law stipulates only that the individual making his or her will (known legally as the “testator” if male or the “testatrix” if female) be 18 or older, and that the will be typed (though active-duty soldiers serving overseas may hand-write theirs).

The will must be signed by the testator/testatrix and witnessed by two people at least 18 years of age who are not related to the individual and not beneficiaries. If the testator/testatrix is physically unable to sign the will, a designated signer will suffice; however, such wills must be notarized.

But Richter cautions those who choose the do-it-yourself method to “at least pay for an hour” of an experienced estate-planning attorney’s time to review the will.

“When people do a will themselves, the biggest problem I see is inconsistencies in how it’s written; it’s simply not clear,” the Rockville attorney says. “You want your will to be crystal clear, not open to guessing or interpretation.”

Richter charges single adults a flat fee of $500 for a package of three documents: a will; a financial power of attorney; and an “advanced directive” (the Maryland health-care form). Her fee is slightly higher for couples, and higher still for those with children or who need tax planning.
She also offers a complimentary initial consultation to educate clients about the process of estate planning.

“Estate planners don’t just write a will,” Richter explains. “We look at the whole picture — the IRAs, life insurance, jointly owned property, beneficiaries. Some people think that if they have a trust, they don’t need a will. But they actually need something called a ‘pour-over will,’ which covers the assets placed in the trust.”

Here’s a checklist of items that, Richter says, “a will is particularly well-suited to cover”:

• The name of the individual who will serve as the “personal representative” (or “the executor”) of your estate; designating this person saves the estate time and money;
• The name of the person who will take care of your children;
• Charitable bequests (which help reduce the size of your taxable estate);
• Possessions, including your car;
• Provisions for pets;
• Funeral costs.

A will also can cover distribution of monetary assets.

“People can get really stressed about being fair in how they distribute these to their children and other loved ones,” says Richter. “They can have a hard time keeping track of who they’ve named a beneficiary in this CD or that account.”

Richter advises people in some situations to put all financial instruments in their own name, and designate beneficiaries only in the will.

Richter cautions people to resist leaving token sums like a penny or a dollar to individuals with whom they have had a falling out — a situation she sometimes sees when a parent is writing a will and has a contentious relationship with a child.

Every beneficiary named in the will becomes an “interested person” in the estate — and someone who can potentially file objections to anything that’s done by the estate’s personal representative, she says.

Also, it’s important to remember that a will covers only those things that are in one person’s name. Jointly held assets automatically transfer to the surviving individual, who should then include those assets in his or her will.

Finally, your original will — not a copy — can be stored at the Office of the Register of Wills in Baltimore City or any Maryland county. Each office offers storage in fireproof safes for $5. Once you die and your estate is opened, the will (unlike a trust) becomes a public record — meaning that anyone can view it at any time. Forever.

Marilyn Millstone is a freelance writer based in Kensington, Md.