I know I'm not on here much anymore, but I try to drop in at least once each month.

Sadly, my MIL passed away recently at the age of 91. She was widowed for many years and had verbally communicated her final wishes to my wife but never put anything in writing. We had tried desperately for years to get her to create estate documents (I even drafted them and suggested she just sign), but she flatly refused. When we told her that doing these documents would make things easier and less confusing when she passed, she simply said "Well I think I'm worth the trouble". LOL

We are now attempting to manage the estate. This will take quite a bit of time.

I'm writing this to just motivate everyone to think about your estate plans and what you want to do when you pass. Document everything. And...suggest to any parents/siblings/children that they do the same. The complexities caused by her dying intestate (without a will) and not having a health-care proxy are real...and emotionally draining on my wife.

My wife and I created our first documents within a year of getting married. We have since updated them twice...the most recent was a year ago.

And keep in mind that it's not just your will...don't let an attorney oversimplify. IMO you need a will, financial POA, and Health care proxies. In addition, outside of the legal documents, you should have things like funeral arrangements, list of people to contact, spreadsheet of financial information such as accounts, contact names, etc...a list of passwords and websites you use, and so on. My wife and I have a black 2" thick binder with all our documents, and our executor knows where this is in our house and has a key to get in. Some of you may desire a trust...I'm not an attorney.

THIS IS YOUR LEGACY! Making things easy on those you leave behind when you pass is important...and especially many on here because you have LLCs, rental properties, tenants that you need to support and collect money from, and so on. Leaving your spouse or kids with a crapload of rentals when you pass, but no instructions on what to do with it all...is not wise.

Thank you, Hoosier.

In my state, as long as it meets certain requirements, you don't need an attorney to create a will, as it can be handwritten. Do the other legal documents require an attorney?

I will agree that it can be a real burden when someone dies, especially in this situation.

A lot of states don't REQUIRE a written will, they probably all have laws regarding intestate estates. But that doesn't mean they will make it easy to act, even with a will.

In New York (who's surprised?) my husband's dad's cousin's will took over a year to go through probate. She had no real estate - just cash, no tricky stuff, not even a former spouse (never married) and no children (a hysterectomy, even, at age 19.) She died in her 90's. She had a written will but it was old. Her wishes had not changed though - it was what it was.

Yet the estate lawyer had to prove there were no children out there ANYWHERE in order to finally settle the thing. Proving a negative is hard. Ridiculous.

6x6, no…you don’t have to use an attorney….but most states require some sort of proof of signing such as witnesses and/or a notary…check your state laws. We have always done our wills without an attorney…but then we have a simple situation (no kids, no blended families, no prior spouses, etc)

The more you have the more you need professionals involved, period. Especially if you have property in several states, multiple bank and investment accounts and more. Also, depending on what you want done with all of it. Imagine spending a lifetime building something and then having an heir or the state just say liquidate it and give me a check - that they immediately go out and buy a new car and go to a casino.

I spend a day every January updating our "If We Kick" file, both printed and digital. There isn't much that we've missed since I started doing that 11 years ago. We have everything but the specifics on burial together, and we're working on that last piece at our daughters' request. We're also considering a new will or an addendum to it, as nearly a decade has passed, and they are all adults now.

Hoosier,

Sorry for your loss. And thanks for the reminder.

I'm with W - I've seen too many families ripped apart and/or value lost to atty fees due to lack of a will or poorly written will.

I believe those attys should be held responsible for dereliction of duty.

A shame her misdirected pride interfered with helping her family. Seen it many times. I always wonder if it's a reaction to not wanting to face our mortality.

My kids know our will - no surprises when we die.

Side note: we were motivated to re-write our will when we decided what we did NOT want to happen.

A family member used a big name online service to write a will which held upon court.

LegalSheild, a vendor of MrLandlord Co, will do those documents Hoosier suggested FOR FREE with a basic membership.

BRAD

Thank you for reminding everyone that each and everyone of us that we have only a certain number of days left on this planet. Today is a great day to work on estate planning - yet so many families get stuck trying to figure things out when they should be grieving.

Along with a will, there are other parts of an estate plan that will help investors:

Land trusts

Durable power of attorney

Beneficiary designations

Letter of intent

Healthcare power of attorney

Guardianship designations (if you have children under age 18.)

Bingo.

The trust model that I use is based on the Illinois Land trust. You being from Indiana though you have absolutely seen those Mega farms. They are Mega farms of 1,000 plus acres because the law allows them to transfer beneficiaries without changing ownership. So the Farm continues without Probate hassles.

The hardest thing about estate planning is exactly what you said - figuring out what legacy you want to leave. If you want to leave your DOG cash - you can even do that.