Conditions Of Your Will: Why These Conditions Are Important To Include In Your Estate Planning

Posted on: 12 April 2016

Many wealthy people have a will, and in that will they frequently include certain conditions for the surviving recipients. There are many good reasons for including conditions of inheritance when you are working out your estate planning with your lawyer. Here are a few conditions and ideas to think about when you are planning your will.

You Have a Tentative Relationship with One of Your Progeny

If your relationship with one or more of your children is tentative at best, and completely on the outside of things at worst, then you may want to include clauses in your will that provide for either of these situations at the time of your death. For example, you may ask your lawyer to include a passage that dictates how much and what this particular progeny inherits in the event that you two are actually speaking to each other again at the the end of your life. If the relationship is maintained and is a good one, you can include a clause that allows this prodigal child to inherit more of your estate than he or she might have had he or she remained distant or estranged.

You Are Not Currently in a Relationship, You Expect Your Spouse to Die Before You, Etc.

Relationships with significant others are difficult to predict when you are working with a lawyer to plan your estate several decades in advance to your expected passing. If you are currently married, you may want to include language in your will that provides for your spouse's needs in the event that you pass away before he or she does. You may also want to include language that allows your assets and property to be passed to the next spouse or significant other in the event that your first spouse passes on before you do. Finally, you should include some legal language in your will that leaves something to your future significant other should you not currently be involved in a serious relationship with anyone. Including these passages will dissuade your other inheritors from pursuing any legal battles.

You Do Not Want to Die Without Leaving Clear Instructions in a Will

People often wait until it is too late to construct a will and leave clear instructions about their assets and property. Without a will, much of your accumulated wealth could go to the government, or your children and spouse or significant other could spend years fighting over these assets and property while ownership of the assets and property sits tied up in probate court. Avoid leaving such a mess behind you by at least starting a will and putting some concrete things down in writing. If there is currently too much that you do not know about your present and future (e.g., spouse, kids, special people you want to leave something to, etc.), then your estate planning lawyer can help phrase the language in your will to accommodate the unknowns until they are known. 

Contact a professional from a company like Lisa Cappolella Attorney at Law to get started on your estate planning.

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