Consider this scenario: You and your spouse are both young with two small children. You don’t earn much; in fact, you may just be surviving.

You may have a small savings account, very small. If you’re lucky enough to own a home or condo, chances are you don’t have much equity in the property, at least not yet.

Preparing an estate plan is probably the last thing on your mind. In factWhy would I spend money preparing a will when I don’t even know how to send my kids to college in about fifteen years, you may be wondering? Obviously, you don’t have to worry, right?

Wrong.

In reality, you are a prime candidate for estate planning. The fact that you are young and have small children is important, but not as an excuse. is a reason. Certainly, in this hypothetical example, you at least need wills, especially because of those two young children.

During those times, you need to take stock of your situation in order to do everything you can to support your new family. It would be great for you to have a trust. It would also be nice if you were involved in some type of financial or college planning.

But you should at least have wills.

The will is the cornerstone of any basic estate plan. Trusts are good. But if you can’t afford a trust, or if you don’t think you have the property to put in a trust, consider wills. First, you should consult with a lawyer, who must have the knowledge to meet the many technical requirements in preparing these legal documents.

You may also consider preparing a holographic will (in other words, wills with all the essentials handwritten). However, you should still seek the help of a qualified estate planning attorney. There are technical requirements in the preparation of all estate planning documents, even in the preparation of handwritten holographic wills.

Also, not all states recognize holographic wills.

Ideally, you should get wills prepared by a lawyer. In general, I would never recommend using software to prepare wills and trusts. However, if it comes down to not having a will vs. using a computer/internet generated document, go for the computer generated document! It’s possibly better than nothing. Even so, a will prepared by a lawyer is still a safer bet.

In California, there is another option: a legal will, which is really nothing more than a witnessed will in a fill-in form available through the California State Bar Association (calbar.org). Nevertheless, even these documents should be prepared with the help of a lawyer. If you are not a California resident, you should never consider using these documents without ensuring that the provisions meet your state’s technical requirements.

Only what the court believes counts! Everyone might know Aunt Millie’s wishes – after hearing her say it a million times, even the family dog ​​might know who gets the family china!

Everyone, that is, except the court.

A will “speaks” at your death: it is the authorized way to instruct the court about the transfer of your property. The will provides the necessary legal force behind the instructions and “wishes.” For example: everyone could understand that Uncle Harry would get Aunt Millies’ most expensive china. But if the properly prepared say otherwise, Uncle Harry is out of luck. The court only looks at the contents of a properly drafted will for guidance, not what “everyone” knows, including Fido.

As parents, YOU are responsible! But a main reason young families should have wills is to name a guardian for their children (also called the “next friend” in certain states).

Obviously, no one wants to even think of their children as orphans. But what could be worse than having your children raised by an unstable, undesirable or inadequate family member? Another possibility could be even worse: that the brothers could split up and disperse. even on both sides of the family. Personally, the idea of ​​my two children growing up not knowing each other horrifies me.

While wills do not prevent bad outcomes, they can clearly and definitively communicate the wishes of the parents. Ultimately, preparing a will is simply another part of fulfilling parental responsibilities, such as feeding and clothing their children.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is not legal advice and its use does not create an attorney-client relationship. Any liability that may arise from your use of or reliance on this article or any link from this article is expressly disclaimed. This article should not be acted upon as legal advice, and is subject to change without notice, or may include out-of-date or out-of-date information, or information that is not relevant to your jurisdiction. If you need legal services, you should consult with an attorney.