The Value to a Last Will and Testament

IS THERE A VALUE TO CREATING A LAST WILL & TESTAMENT?

In general, a Last Will & Testament (“Will”) is designed to provide for orderly distribution of assets to heirs. Many people in their final years of life have already distributed or gifted assets to family, friends, universities or other community foundations.   In many cases, the only remaining asset of any value is your personal residence (“home”).  If your home is the only remaining significant asset of any value, the the need for a formal may not be as important. 

In New Mexico there exists a legal mechanism called a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) that will transfer title of your home to another person prior to your passing away.  The legal title will not be effective until the date of your passing.  Sapien Law LLC can assist you with evaluating your estate and discussing the various legal options you have in New Mexico. 

If there are indeed assets of value that are to be divided among the heirs, and there are definite wishes about who should get what, a Will should be considered.   This is especially true where there are multiple marriages and children of those marriages. Experience over the years has given us numerous examples of the property going to the wrong people because no will was ever made. There are also many examples of individuals who want to pass on the ownership of the business or other property who leave handwritten instructions that were poorly drafted and not well thought out. Without the assistance of an attorney, some of these holographic wills have ended in complete disaster. The final outcome for the persons creating these documents has been exactly the opposite of what they wanted.

Generally, a Will specifies the disposition of specific assets and are incorporated into the legal document.  However, often the disposition of items with insignificant economic value but immense sentimental or historical value, are just as important if not more important to most of us. These are such things as personal histories, achievement awards, genealogies, favorite ceramics, handicrafts, heirlooms, jewelry, special furniture, pictures, collections, etc. Perhaps of more importance to you is creating a list of the person(s) you wish to gift some of your personal treasures and other personal belongings that may hold sentimental value to you.  This can be accomplished as part of your Will.  Any improper distribution of these special items by the designated Personal Representative (“PR”) can sometimes cause bad feelings or infighting between family members. An updated Personal Property distribution list can alleviate these family issues and will assist the PR with the distribution of your estate upon your passing.

We recommend that you provide your PR and trusted family members a copy of your Will and instructions to petition the probate court if other members of the family refuse to respect the intent of the distribution.   To avoid claims that the Will is not legally valid, our law firm will always require at least two witnesses to sign a verification clause that your Will was properly executed and that it contains your intensions and wishes upon your passing. A notary public provided by our law firm will also ensure that all legal documents are notarized and include the signature of you and the witnesses who were present when you signed your Will.



You are encouraged to contact Sapien Law LLC to schedule a free one-hour consultation to discuss your Estate Planning legal needs.  You may contact our law firm at (505) 842-5979.