Why You Should Get a Last Will and Testament
The Last Will and Testament will provide for the guardianship of minor children and contains a pour-over provision, so any assets not in your living trust at death will be placed into the living trust. These pour-over assets will still be subject to probate, so you want to ensure you transfer assets to your living trust before you die.
You will want to utilize the will in conjunction with the living trust. The use of a will without a living trust can be contested by the family and must be probated, which makes it subject to probate’s time delays and costs. Many attorneys recommend their clients create a will without a living trust to ensure the estate will go through probate. Why? Because attorneys do not always have their clients’ best interest in mind. The attorney wants to collect the legal fees associated with probate, and, in some states, the attorney receives a percentage of all the assets that go through probate. Probate is time consuming, costly, and public. The only person that benefits from your estate going through probate is the attorney.
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