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will

What Does a Will Really Do?

What is a will and what does it do? It sounds like such a simple question. It should be, but the details often get lost in emotional discussions such as estate planning. As a law firm, we sometimes forget that what is an everyday discussion for us and that we take for granted is not a normal thing for others to talk about. Whether you haven’t every talked about your will or you have done all of your estate planning, reviewing what a will is and what it does is a good idea.

What is a Will?

To put it plainly, a will is a legal document that answers two main questions:

  1. What happens to your stuff?
  2. What happens to your kids when you aren’t there to protect them?

Like mentioned above, we sometimes take these conversations for granted, but it can be a difficult conversation.  Not only do you have to ask yourself difficult questions that you may not know the answer to, but you have to admit your own mortality. Needless to say, that’s not fun. In fact, it can be downright scary. We don’t mean to give any more excuses to put off your estate planning any longer, but we find that there is no use sugar coating it to make our clients artificially feel better. In fact, you probably should feel a bit uncomfortable in making decisions that are so consequential to the people you most love. They are difficult, but important conversations and the worst thing that we and you can do is pretend that they aren’t. It’s OK to be scared. It’s OK to even be a little intimidated. That’s where your trusted advisors come in.

How to Write a Legal Will

The right attorney will guide you through that process. Like we mentioned before, we have these conversations on a daily basis. As a client, you can and should take advantage of that. Every person’s situation is different, but there are very few types of situations that your attorney hasn’t seen. You have the ability to use that knowledge and experience to your advantage. That is why you want to be comfortable with the attorney you choose to work with. We would love to say that Kiecker Law is the best firm for everyone (and, in our minds, we are), but even if we aren’t we want you to have comfort in knowing that your wishes are going to be honored.

Writing a Last Will and Testement

So, in a very brief way, we answered the question. What is a will and what does it do? Yes, it’s a legal document and decides where your stuff goes and what happens with your kids. We just talked a little bit of the process of what it takes to write a will, but in the next couple of months we will talk more specifically about the questions a will answers. We’ll talk about how we decide who gets your stuff and some things you might want to take into consideration. We’ll talk about what happens to your kids (if they are minors) and some things you want to keep in mind while making that decision. And we’ll talk about what happens if you don’t write a will. Throughout it all, we’ll give you a few thoughts on how we do things and some things that you might keep in mind regardless of what attorney you work with.

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