Write Your Will in a Weekend [With CD]

by Gabrielle Nemes and Christine M. Sovich

Learn how to avoid common mistakes with this low-cost option to creating a will. This easy-to-use kit offers everything needed to complete such an important family document. CD contains popular will... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761523782
• ISBN13: 9780761523789
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Premier Press
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Don't Be So Intestate!

It always lurked in the back of my mind: make a will. The main obstacle that kept me from moving was the thought of a lawyer's fee. Now, this lawyer/author, Christine Sovich, brings the good news that the services of her expensive profession are not necessary to create a perfectly legal will. You can get this book/CD combo for about the price of six minutes of a lawyer's time.I had a list of questions about the process, which the book was concise enough to answer in ten minutes of page flipping.Question 1. What happens if you die without a will? Answer: A state court decides who gets everything you leave behind. The court makes these decisions in accordance with your state's intestate succession laws. In the process of getting this good and simple answer, my attention was drawn to a fascinating table on page 184 that shows who gets what in various intestate scenarios. For example, if you die unmarried with no surviving children or siblings or parents, your entire estate goes to your grandparents. If they are dead, the state starts searching for aunts and uncles.Question 2. How does one ensure the will is legally binding? Answer: Make sure that you are at least 18 and of sound mind. Make sure the will is in writing, preferably printed. (Video wills are only legal in the state where the Simpsons reside.) Lastly, the will must be signed and dated in the presence of at least 2 and preferably 3 adult witnesses, and the witnesses must also sign and date.Question 3. Who tells the state court that you have a will and that it is legally binding and who carries out its provisions? Answer: The Executor. This impressive title goes to whomever you select for the role. The legal requirements of the executor are the same as for witnesses. The practical requirement is that he or she must be well-organized and knows where to lay hands on your will if you should pass away.After finding these basic things out so quickly and efficiently, I resolved to buy WRITE YOUR WILL IN A WEEKEND as a handbook for the details as I write my will, which may or may not take me a weekend. The writing is clear and plain, but also provides all the mellifluous legal terms that sound Old English, terms like "escheat" and "surety bond" and "forced heirship". Shopping enthusiasts will be interested to know that the legal term for all personal, movable property is "personality".Sovich has an ability, finely honed during her career as an estate planning lawyer, to bring up all the right questions about the process at the right time, and to answer them--all in 172 pages of fairly large font. The other 160 pages are appendices--interesting and useful in their own way, but not indispensable.