Kids and Money: Best Posts, 5 of 7 Wills

KCLau wrote a post about wills that I thought I'd bring to your attention. I must admit, writing wills for both my wife and I has been on our list for about 3 years now. We started thinking about it before our first child was born.

Not taking the time to write our wills is more about denial (I will never die, nor will my wife, which is a ridiculous thing to think because we all die, one day, usually sooner than we want) than about time getting the best of us.

So this article actually has triggered something in me that is compelling me to really take on the task of writing our wills.

Now that we have two young children at home, it's more important now than ever to do this.

Here is the gist of the exercise:

Write a will for both my wife and me. List all our assets and how they are to be disbursed upon my or her death, or both.

We also need to determine who will care for our kids (we have). One of the keys here is to talk with the lucky future (potential) guardians and let them say "No," if they're so inclined. After all, taking on children that aren't yours at a moment's notice, for the rest of time, is a daunting, scary task.

For many folks, writing a will is fairly easy: We don't have lot of complex assets like real estate or partnerships and most of our assets, if not all, are in joint tenancy. There's software that will facilitate the endeavor, too. Quicken's WillMaker comes immediately to mind.

You'll have to get it notarized. Make sure you store it in at least three places. For example, one at home, one in the safe deposit box, and perhaps one with your nearest relative that doesn't live with you.

KCLau's post had an interesting illustration (to the left) that showed when a person ought to reconsider re-writing his or her will. This is a very good list to keep in mind as your life goes on. It's important to update your will whenever something changes materially that affects your property or beneficiaries.

Read KCLau's post for the full story ([Rockwills] Professional Will Writing Service: When Should You Rewrite Your Will? | Personal Finance Money Tips).

Thanks for piquing my interest in this crucial topic!

Look for a future post about estate planning that I'll be writing in the near future.

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