Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way.

No matter what stage of life you’re in, or how much or how little you have, a will is an important estate planning tool.  Your will serves as the roadmap for your loved ones to carry out your wishes.

One of the biggest benefits of a will is that YOU make the determination as to who gets your belongings, big or small.  You want to leave your 8-track tape collection to your favorite nephew?  You can do that in your will.  What about your commemorative spoon collection?  You can leave that to your best friend.  Your will designates an executor who will be in charge of distributing these items in accordance with your wishes. 

If you are a parent, a will can serve a greater purpose in that it allows you to nominate someone to serve as a guardian to your minor children.  This allows you to pick someone you trust with similar values to care for your children after your death. 

What happens if you don’t have a will?  There’s technically still a way for your assets to be distributed, but you have no say in the matter.  Instead, the state of Georgia determines who gets what.  If you die without a will, your assets are distributed to family members based on the closest degree of blood relationship to you.  For example, if you are unmarried and have no children, your assets would go to your parents.  If you have no blood relatives, your assets go to the state.  Your best friend won’t get that spoon collection after all. 

A will can provide peace of mind for yourself, knowing that your final wishes will be carried out and your loved ones will be taken care of after your death.

Coming up in our next post:  You found your loved one’s will – now what?    

*This post is made available for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. By using this blog, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and Weber Pierce, LLC.