The following is not legal advice for your situation, despite the occasional use of the second person. Rather, it is general commentary about how wills work.
There are four good options:
(1) do it yourself
(2) hire a lawyer ($200 - $3,000)
(3) use a legal forms service such as LegalZoom.com ($30 - $100)
(4) buy a how-to book from a company like Nolo ($15 - $40)
If you do it yourself, you will need to think about what you own, decide who you would like to get that stuff when you die, and then write your instructions down on a piece of paper. You should then find two adults who are (a) not your relatives, and (b) not mentioned in the will to be your witnesses. Reassure the witnesses that you are sane, thinking clearly, and acting of your own free will. Then sign the will by writing your name in both print and cursive at the bottom. Add today’s date. Then have each of your witnesses do the same. Have the witnesses write “witness” next to their signatures. Finally, make two photocopies of the will. Keep one in your desk for handy reference, give one to a friend or family member for publicity, and put the original in a safe deposit box at a bank for safekeeping.
If you decide to hire a lawyer, make sure the lawyer speaks a casual dialect of English in addition to legalese—a will that no one but lawyers can decipher will irritate your relatives. For free, you should expect to be able to briefly discuss what sort of will you want. After the discussion, insist on a flat fee that will cover drafting (writing), execution (signing) and an uncontested probating (publishing and enforcing) your will. Do not agree to an hourly rate unless there is a firm cap on the number of hours. If your relatives challenge your will, you will probably have to pay additional fees. If you think this is likely, set aside some money in your will to pay the legal expenses associated with publishing and enforcing your will.
No, nor that they print their own names. They just have to sign their names and date the signature. It’s also a good idea to have each of them initial every (numbered) page of your will; this proves that no pages have been inserted or deleted.
When I first started asking how to write a will, a couple of years ago, the best advice I got was to write the will myself — because this is free — and then reread it in a few months. Repeat this process until I couldn’t think of anything to add or change. Then visit a lawyer and have them translate it into legalese.
The following is not legal advice for your situation, despite the occasional use of the second person. Rather, it is general commentary about how wills work.
There are four good options: (1) do it yourself (2) hire a lawyer ($200 - $3,000) (3) use a legal forms service such as LegalZoom.com ($30 - $100) (4) buy a how-to book from a company like Nolo ($15 - $40)
If you do it yourself, you will need to think about what you own, decide who you would like to get that stuff when you die, and then write your instructions down on a piece of paper. You should then find two adults who are (a) not your relatives, and (b) not mentioned in the will to be your witnesses. Reassure the witnesses that you are sane, thinking clearly, and acting of your own free will. Then sign the will by writing your name in both print and cursive at the bottom. Add today’s date. Then have each of your witnesses do the same. Have the witnesses write “witness” next to their signatures. Finally, make two photocopies of the will. Keep one in your desk for handy reference, give one to a friend or family member for publicity, and put the original in a safe deposit box at a bank for safekeeping.
If you decide to hire a lawyer, make sure the lawyer speaks a casual dialect of English in addition to legalese—a will that no one but lawyers can decipher will irritate your relatives. For free, you should expect to be able to briefly discuss what sort of will you want. After the discussion, insist on a flat fee that will cover drafting (writing), execution (signing) and an uncontested probating (publishing and enforcing) your will. Do not agree to an hourly rate unless there is a firm cap on the number of hours. If your relatives challenge your will, you will probably have to pay additional fees. If you think this is likely, set aside some money in your will to pay the legal expenses associated with publishing and enforcing your will.
Is it actually important that the witnesses be the ones to write “witness”? If so, why?
No, nor that they print their own names. They just have to sign their names and date the signature. It’s also a good idea to have each of them initial every (numbered) page of your will; this proves that no pages have been inserted or deleted.
When I first started asking how to write a will, a couple of years ago, the best advice I got was to write the will myself — because this is free — and then reread it in a few months. Repeat this process until I couldn’t think of anything to add or change. Then visit a lawyer and have them translate it into legalese.
No. Sorry about that.