At what point in life do you write a will?

Just me and DH, no kids, just bought a house- do we need to make a will?

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

Nevermind - I hit send then realized you said NO kids.

Message edited 8/16/2010 10:35:47 PM.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

We had them drawn up when I was pregnant with our first child.

I think it's a personal decision. Do you think your family members would fight over your assets? Is there someone specific you would prefer inherit certain items? If so, you might want to have one drawn up to ensure your wishes are followed.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

i think its something that is normally overlooked or procrastinated..... its always a good idea to plan for the future...

Everyone should have a will. If you don't, you have no say in where any of your things go. People usually expect their assets will be given to the spouse/children, but that is totally not the case. Without a will, you're spouse will be lucky to get half. The rest will probably go to you're parents, and if they are dead, will go to siblings or other relatives. You half to specify where you want you're things to go in a will. Even if you are 20 and living with you're boyfriend and want them to get a piece of what you have, you need to make a will.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

I'd say yes you should. If you don't have a will, the state you are living in has one written for you - and it divides your assets. If you want them divided in a differnt way, it's up to YOU to spell it out.

For example, if your spouse has a child, as a spouse you get 50K & then half of the remaining assets. His children get the other half of th remaining assets. No problem if the child is yours but if there were stepchildren involved, you could wind up owning a house with your stepchildren, which may not be ideal.

Another example is if you want your parents to have any of your personal effects, spell it out. Death & grief change people in ways I've never expected. Your adoring DH may promise to give your parents x, y & z but when grief sets in, things could change.

The link for the laws in NY aren't working at the moment but here is NY's: http://www.jdbar.com/Statutes/eptl-4-1_1.html

Message edited 8/17/2010 5:22:57 AM.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

We did one right after we bought our house, before we had kids.

It was a pretty basic one.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

We set everything up as soon as we bought our house, so DH and I were both protected incase anything serious ever happened, including life insurance policies.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

I did when my DD was a year old. It would have been sooner, but one thing or another kept getting int eh way.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

At what point in life do you write a will? When you care where your money, belongings, and assets go should something happen to you and/or your spouse.

Not being snotty either - being serious. It's never too early to write a will, providing you update it as necessary when your life situation changes.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

when you have kids you write a will or if you don't plan on having kids then i would do it when you have a house, cars, assets, etc.

Message edited 8/17/2010 10:06:10 AM.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

DH & I are in the process of buying a house and once we are done w/that, we will set up our wills. We dont have any kids either.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

i really didnt care what happened to my stuff until I had a child. That is when we decided to get a Will drawn up

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

IMO since you own a home, I think you should have a Will.
Its my understanding that once you have one, if necessary its easy to make a change.
Since DH & I have quite a bit in savings we will be making up one soon as well as a living will. Once we own a home we will make necessary changes. We figure we will not make any other additional changes until we have children.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

We did not until DS was born.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

If you own a home, or other assets, you should have one, IMO. We didn't do it until after we had the child and the house, but we really should have done it sooner.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

In my opinion - if you have assets (and you care what happens to them) then you should have a will.

DH and I wrote one when we got married / bought a house last year. Its a simple will and we will have to update when we have kids - but i feel good knowing that there wont be any issues if one of us passes.

And it doesnt cost that much - a few hundred - which is certainly worth piece of mind.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

Wow, according to this I should have one.

If something happens to me, DH would be fine in our house and hes the beneficiary on my accounts...if something happened to him, i'd be screwed!

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

As soon as i get a BFP i will...

but i was talking to a friend who has 3 kids and she said she doesnt have a will... i was shocked...

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

we did after we had our son, which happens to be the same time we became homeowners.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

Please do it NOW.

It will save you a lot of headaches if (heaven forbid) something happens to one of you.

There is a LOT to be done if a spouse dies and the will makes it 1000 times easier.



ETA: it's not about who's going to get the "stuff" either.

There are soooooo many legalities involved - executor of the estate, life insurance, SS payout, etc.

It's really for the piece of mind of your survivors.

Message edited 8/17/2010 3:17:07 PM.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

We plan to once we are married. We will also get life insurance policies as well.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

Posted by leighla

Please do it NOW.

It will save you a lot of headaches if (heaven forbid) something happens to one of you.

There is a LOT to be done if a spouse dies and the will makes it 1000 times easier.



ETA: it's not about who's going to get the "stuff" either.

There are soooooo many legalities involved - executor of the estate, life insurance, SS payout, etc.

It's really for the piece of mind of your survivors.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

I think it is okay to have one at any time. But things like a 401k have beneficiaries. Maybe its good to have the house on a will. I think it just depends on how many things people have. Planning ahead for this never hurts IMO.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

Here's something to consider for those that only have bank accounts, no home, no children.

If you & DH were in a car accident, and you were both seriously injured - one of you dies first. The other one still living inherits your money. Later the surviving spouse dies of their injuries. Who inherits the money?

Without knowing estate law but by going on a recent case based on inheritance that was in the news, wouldn't it be the relatives of the last suriving spouse?

In other words, if you are survived by your spouse briefly, would your ILs inherit everything & your family inherit nothing?

I'm not really sure of the answer - it's one for the lawyers.

I believe an executor is entitled to a fee for managing the estate. If one is appointed, that person (who you may not know) takes their % leaving less for your family.

Message edited 8/17/2010 6:16:21 PM.

Re: At what point in life do you write a will?

So basically, if something happened to my DH, his family could claim that they will own my house, even though I am still alive - if I don't have a will?


Where do I go to get this? Just any lawyer?

Message edited 8/17/2010 8:18:10 PM.