After my mother’s untimely passing, it got me to thinking about my last wishes. I do not have a Last Will and Testament but I sure do have plans on where my assets would go. Would you want your assets going to the state? Would you want all of your (or your family’s) hard earned money going to a family member that didn’t want anything to do with you when you were alive?
Definitely not me! So I’m on a quest to make my Will(s). Did you know that you can make your own Last Will and Testament*? I’m very much a do-it-yourself kinda girl and went searching for templates. You can take the completed Will to have it notarized, then you can file it as you see fit. Yes this is completely legal & binding. We’re putting ours in our fireproof safe.
Just go to this website, pick the Will** with your specific life situation (i.e. Married with Minor Children, Divorced with Adult Children, etc) and save the PDF form to your hard-drive. If you want to just be able to enter the information into the PDF form & print, that’s a paid service. I’ve already typed up my dad’s & mailed it to him for his own information/filing. Today, I’m completing my own.
Death generally is unexpected, even though we all know it’s inevitable. It’s better to make plans now for what you’d like done, than leave everyone fighting over assets. Death is hard enough emotionally, but I can speak from experience & say that death’s can tear families apart. Won’t you make it a little easier on your loved ones? Make sure you have a Last Will and Testament.
*I am not a lawyer & I don’t represent a lawyer. For legal advice, please contact a lawyer.*
**Keep in mind that a Last Will and Testament is different from a Living Will. The Last Will and Testament tells everyone what you want done with your assets/children after your death. It even states how you want to be buried/cremated, etc. A Living Will tells your medical wishes if you’re in a situation where you can’t speak for yourself (coma). This tells whether or not you want to be on life support, feeding tubes, etc.**
Nikowa is a 2nd year homeschooling mom to two boys. (Ages 8 and 5) With her “learning never ends” philosophy, they have an eclectic year-round approach to learning. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys photography, organizing, cooking, reading, and knitting. She is a #1 LOST fan and watches UGA football too! (Go Dawgs!) You can visit Nikowa at Knowledge House Academy.
{{{Nikowa}}} I’m sad to hear about your unexpected loss. Yet a valuable lesson came forth as you consider things that we need to do NOW for our family to help them in future days.
When our own family went through losses in recent years, my husband and I were determined to get our “house in order” but then time passed and we never got the paperwork back out. So, I’m thankful for your reminder!
Praying for you during your season of grieving.
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
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Sorry to hear about your loss. A few years ago, our pastor lost his daughter and her husband to a car accident. Because of that, many of us decided to make a will in case anything happened to us. We have ours in a fireproof safe.
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I'm happy to see a post about LW&T because it IS so vital. And, this is a great link to a good resource. I am a little concerned about one thing though. You might want to put a disclaimer or something on the post about the translating PDF to Word. Technically, this is modifying their copyrighted work to avoid payment. Aside from being just wrong, it goes against their terms of use.
The materials available on the sites may not be republished, nor may they be reverse engineered, translated, modified or used to make derivative information or materials. Disclaimer, License and Liability Limitation
I’m hopeful you’re not recommending other people do this! And I apologize for being a bear. I work in the creative industry and deal with copyright issues all the time so it may seem I’m “policing”, but it’s more like watching out for fellow moms so they don’t get in hot water with the law (and our Heavenly Father who knows what we’re doing even when no one else does).
Great post though, really! You’ve reminded me about a fireproof safe. I keep saying, one of these days…
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