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Your will is an estate planning document that allows you to designate family and friends to receive your possessions and property, as well as include final personal messages to them. Ensuring your will is drafted correctly is vital, as even a single mistake can invalidate the entire document or lead to it being challenged in court after you pass away. To avoid costly errors that will take an emotional toll on your family, avoid these top mistakes our estate planning lawyer in Sanford, FL sees with drafting a will:

Waiting Too Long

It’s natural to feel uncomfortable and emotional while creating your will. However, letting the fear of drafting your will stop you from completing the document does more harm than good, especially for your family. Waiting is simply not worth the risk—it’s best to draft your will as soon as possible. Having your will in place can provide a sense of relief, knowing that your family is taken care of and their needs are met after you pass away.

If you pass away without a will, your property and possessions are divided according to Florida’s intestate laws, with a specified line of succession that may not match your desires. The best way to prevent your estate from becoming intestate is to create a will and designate who you’d like to receive your possessions.

Using A Template

Don’t leave your entire legacy in the hands of a fill-in-the-blank document you found online through a quick online search. While do-it-yourself templates are everywhere, these generic documents fail to account for your unique family situation, assets, possessions, and individual state law, opening the door to mistakes and omissions. Hiring a Sanford, FL, estate planning lawyer to draft your estate plan ensures your will is legally valid and accounts for all your possessions.

Never Updating It

Only 23% of people modify their wills after experiencing major life events. However, this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make after creating your will. You should review your will regularly to ensure your possessions are distributed to your intended beneficiaries. Review your will every three to five years, or after experiencing a significant life event, such as:

• Getting married or divorced
• Moving to a new state
• Welcoming the birth or adoption of a child or grandchild
• The death of your named personal representative, a beneficiary, or guardian
• Retirement
• A significant and sudden change in assets

Forgetting To Make Sure It’s Legal In Florida

For a will to be valid in Florida, it needs to be a written, typed document that you and two other witnesses sign. Preferably, these two witnesses should be people who don’t have an interest in the outcome of your will, like your spouse or beneficiaries. If you’re new to Florida, you’ll want to ensure your will accounts for your current assets, which likely changed during the move. Florida law generally recognizes wills that were completed and valid in other states, even if they don’t follow Florida’s guidelines. However, you’ll want to check with your estate planning lawyer in Sanford, FL to make sure.

Selecting Multiple Personal Representatives

Your personal representative plays a vital role in your estate, ensuring your will is properly executed, creditor claims are paid, and your assets are distributed to your intended beneficiaries. This is a significant responsibility that should be given to a trusted friend or close family member. You may think that such an enormous responsibility should be shared between multiple people to ease the burden. For example, many parents name more than one child as their personal representative, thinking they are helping their children carry this burden and making it easier. However, naming more than one personal representative can complicate matters. Siblings may move away from each other, grow apart, or have other commitments that make sharing the load much more difficult than one person taking on this responsibility. Instead, discuss the role and responsibilities with your loved one before completing your will to see if they are willing to perform these duties.

Overlooking Beneficiary Designations

Beneficiary designations are people that you list as successors on specific assets. Types of assets that may allow beneficiary designations include life insurance policies, savings accounts, IRAs, and 401(k) plans. Assets with beneficiary designations automatically transfer ownership after you pass away, without going through probate. One common mistake people make when drafting their will is forgetting to account for beneficiary designations. When this happens, the beneficiary listed on the asset will receive it, not the person listed in the will. This may unintentionally give someone an asset you didn’t intend for them to have. To avoid this, work with an experienced estate planning attorney to ensure your beneficiary designations match what’s listed in your will.

Thinking A Will Is All You Need

Creating a will is only one aspect of estate planning. You should include other types of documents in your estate plan to ensure your family can carry out your last wishes and pass your possessions and finances to others. Other important estate planning documents are revocable trusts, durable power of attorney, living wills, and advance directives. Your estate planning attorney can help determine which documents are best for your individual estate.

Boutty Law Firm: Estate Planning Lawyer In Sanford, FL

Our Sanford, FL estate planning attorney, Benjamin Shane Boutty, can help you draft a will that is legally valid and gives an accurate representation of how you’d like your estate divided after you pass away. The more effort and detail you put into creating this document, the easier it will be for your family to execute your will upon your passing. There is no reason to wait—draft your will as soon as possible to ensure you’re able to leave your possessions and property to your desired beneficiaries after you pass away. Call our office at 407-622-1395 for a free consultation to learn how we can help you develop a comprehensive estate plan that meets your family’s needs.