I don't have a will, but I also don't have any dependents or pets. My parents are already named as beneficiaries of my retirement plan and Mom's name is on my savings account, so about 95% of my net worth would default to them without need for a will. I suppose if I outlive both of them (not a sure thing, given the longevity of women on Mom's side of the family) I'll have to make arrangements for funeral costs and division of assets among my closest cousins.

They don't HAVE to be handwritten, it's just allowed. I think it's so Old Man McDonald, who would never go to no dang lawyer, can write his Last Will and Testament in his own shaky hand on the back of a dirty napkin two days before he keels over in the back 40, and the courts can accept it.

They don't HAVE to be handwritten, it's just allowed

The article you linked to says:

This type of Will must be prepared in your own handwriting.

Yeah, Old Man McDonald can't type it out and email it to someone and have it be valid, nor can Junior McDonald claim that his Old Man dictated it.

I'm looking for a fall/spring coat--opinions on this? It's got a detachable hood and a removable fleece lining, and it's fully washable.

Erin, I missed the conversation last night, but I had to chime in since I'm basically a single mom now and I've been thinking a lot about a will lately. I don't think I'm scared of dying more than anyone else but I do worry now because it means my kids (well, E, F, and the coming baby) would likely be split up.

We have a will that stipulates that N goes to one person and G goes to someone else AND then we had to pay to change that once circumstances changed. Grace comes with a set of doctors and challenges and whatall. Of course the new guardian we have chosen was super open to it, but still has yet to learn the basics of Grace care. So if we die in a horrible car crash, then the nurse will have to bring them up to speed.

If Grace is ever decannulated then maybe the will we change again. But N's potential guardian lives in a state with bad supports for kids with special needs.

The other thing our lawyer was pretty rocking on, with guardianship etc, is that he also asked that we appoint temporary guardians who would be available immediately -- like 30 minutes. He noted that there have been occasions that the permanent guardians are not as available under immediate circumstances and kids have gone to CPS while they wait.

So we have immediate temporary guardians and permanent guardians. And then separate medical people who make medical decisions and then money people.

We have made a complicated will for people who have no assets but lots of obligations.

A will that has been witnessed properly doesn't have to be hand written. But if you are just going to write something down and have that count as your will, without witnesses, etc, then it must be handwritten.

I was going to chime in earlier that I remember from my wills class that if you use a pre-printed form, and screw it up somehow (like no witnesses), then they will only use the handwritten parts and you had better hope that they can figure out your intent from just the handwritten parts or it doesn't work as a will.

Please note that I have no real legal experience with this - that's just what I remember from school

For the science geeks amongst us: [link]

I apologize if it's been posted before, I'm a skippy skimmer, but I thought it was cool as hell playing with slider and seeing everything zoom in and out.

I really need to do my guardianship stuff.

immediate temporary guardians

OH! right, should do that.