How to Create a Free Will and What to Watch Out For?

It is a sensitive but important exercise to plan the future but particularly so regarding the end of life. Most individuals hesitate in trusting a will since it is hard to contemplate death. But what can be more worrying than the lack of will? Recent research estimates that more than 70 percent of all Americans die without having left a will and the state has to leave the distribution of assets, who should look after children, and how debts should be met to the courts.

The Benefits of a Free Will from Ethos

Today, one of the cheapest, but fast and simple methods of making a will is via Ethos, which offers free wills in exchange of buying a life insurance policy. Ethos will provide life insurance as low as 2 dollars a day, with a maximum coverage of 2M, and no medical exams or blood work is necessary.

With such a small fee of only $7 a month, you will also gain access to life insurance and the tools of estate planning, such as a free will. This will not only make sure that your loved ones are financial secure, but also enables you to make sure that your estate is passed the way you want. Ethos also has a comprehensive estate planning package where you can get a complete set of estate planning tools at the cost of 449 dollars, in this package not only you get a will but the trust, power of attorney and other documents guaranteeing that your estate will be managed as per your desire.

You even get the benefit of life insurance, estate planning tool all the way to a free will at a very cheap rate of only seven dollars a month. This pairing will guarantee that you protect your loved ones financially, whilst also ensuring that your assets are received by only those who you want rather than being handed out to people due to lack of proper planning. Ethos also has a full suite of estate planning tools that would cost people $449 but in addition to a will, they would also cover a trust and a power of attorney and a few documents to make sure that your estate is in good hands.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Free Will

Creating a free will through Ethos or similar platforms is a straightforward process. Below are the essential steps to guide you through the creation of your will:

1. Inventory Your Assets

Write down a list of all the things you own; this is the initial process of making a will. This covers not only intangible property such as your home residence, vehicle, jewelry and other personal property, but also the financial assets such as bank accounts, investments and insurance policies. Also worth mentioning are assets that automatically transfer to a surviving account holder or beneficiary, such as joint bank accounts, and retirement vehicles, like 401(k) plans–so those do not require you to specify anything in your will.

2. Make a list of your beneficiaries

Next, one of the things you will need to consider is who will receive your assets after you pass on. This is also one of the most important steps though ambiguity at this stage may cause family problems. Name beneficiaries as accurately as possible. An example is that you say, in lieu of indicating that you will leave your vintage tea set to your niece, you would say, I bequeath my vintage tea set to my niece, Nora Harris.

3. Designate a Guardian for Your Children

In your will, another critical consideration is who will be the guardian in case you have minor kids. The guardian takes care of your kids when you are not available. You have to select a person who shares your values and someone who can give a stable home to your children.

4. Designate an Executor

The executor takes it upon him or herself to administer the orders of your will. The individual will be in charge of dissipating your assets, settling outstanding debt, and completing the probate process. You need to decide on someone, who is organized, trust-worthy, and can handle these tasks in difficult period of time.

5. Specify Charitable Donations (Optional)

Unless you want to allocate some of your estate to a charity or non profit making organization then you can include such donations in your will. Ethos provides tools to help you easily designate donations to organizations like the Kidney Fund or the American Red Cross.

6. Sign the will in front of witnesses

After you write your will, the same should be signed in presence of the two eyewitnesses who are not the beneficiary. This aids in authentication of the document and making it a legally binding document. Most of the states require two or more witnesses. Others, such as Ethos, even provide option of notarizing will, which also helps to reinforce the validity of it even further.

What to Watch Out for When Creating a Free Will?

Although making a free will via websites such as Ethos is often a wonderful idea, there are a couple of issues to watch out within order to have your will be legal and in accordance to your preferences:

1. The intricacy of your property

Online wills are good when you want to leave behind a fairly simple estate, but might not be appropriate in the event that you have complicated estate situations, including more than one house, a business, or a foreign asset. In such incidents, it is always better to have a legal representation that stands at the edge of an estate planning attorney.

2. Accessibility Gaps

Although a great majority of online will creation sites are created with a user-friendly interface, there is a possibility of a lack of accessibility to a smaller number of users. In case of one being dependent on accessibility features one should not make until one tests it out.

3. No Legal Review for Complex Wills

Free will sites usually provide just simple screens to fill in, and there are no legal checks. Contacting a lawyer is a good step, in case you are in doubt in the correctness or language of the will, or in case the assets are complex.

4. Lack of Witnessing Guidelines

Witnessing of wills may be different according to the state. Others, such as Ethos provide information on how to witness requirements, although proper consideration should be taken towards the instructions. There are chances that your will will be contested in court due to the invalidity of signature, or failure to meet the state requirement.

5. Forgetting to Update Your Will

Your will is not a once in a lifetime document; it must be amended every time you feel that there has been any major life changing event e.g. marriage, birth of child, divorce or any other major financial incident. Most services, such as Ethos, provide the opportunity to change your will an unlimited number of times without the additional cost.