Writing Your Will - Step by Step Tutorial!

Foreign. Welcome, everybody, to this week's episode of Main Street Business Podcast. And yes, the title of the show is correct. We are going to help you write your will during this podcast. You're welcome. You're welcome.

You're welcome. And I've got news for everyone listening. You will die someday. And this might actually be helpful.

I don't know if. You know, what I thought you were going to say is, and if you're trying to do this while you're driving, you will die. So let's make.

Not suggested. Not suggested.

Yes.

This is not meant to immediately be used. This is meant to be later. Okay.

Yes, that's right. This is. We want you to not need this wheel for a while, so let's not do it while we're driving or riding horseback or on a treadmill. What do people do when they listen to our podcast? They. They do lots of fun things. Yeah.

So just be safe riding horses. That's what. That's. I'm sure someone rides a horse and listens to our podcast. Anyone out there doing this, please take a photo, share it on social media, and tag us. That would be amazing.

Oh, we should ask that right now. Please send a picture of us of what you like doing when you're listening to our podcast. Of course. That is in good taste.

Keep a PG13. PG13.

Corey Cory's already over on his phone. Now, you don't count because we already know what you. You do something inappropriate. Okay, now, see, like, Stern. Howard Stern had Robin. I have Corey.

Yeah, yeah, he's my Robin.

Yeah.

Yeah. Everyone knows, in case you found this podcast, we are attorneys. I know. You know, we're gonna keep it light here because estate planning is so boring. It's one of the reasons no one does it. We're gonna try and keep it light. We really want you to seriously complete a handwritten, holographic will in today's episode. And we're real lawyers. We're not just, like lawyers on tv. We're real lawyers.

We want to be on tv.

But yes.

And we are on TV once in a while on news, you know, interviews. But we haven't got a call for a sitcom or Netflix movie or.

I'm just waiting for them to be like, hey, Matt Sorensen, we got a movie about you. We want you to know if you want to play Matt Sorensen.

It's almost like a double compliment. You're like, you're gonna do a movie about me, and I get to play myself. Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

A little busy, I guess.

Yeah. Okay, now, before we get to our weekly tips, and I've got a good one. I got a doozy, as one might say, as my mom might say, being in the 1950s, that's a doozy. We need you to prepare, so you need to get in a well lit, relaxed space. Turn off all the distractions. We are literally going to write your will with you here on the podcast. So get a. I would say a lined paper. You don't want just a piece of paper out of the printer. It's kind of funny nowadays, lined paper. Do I have lined paper anywhere? Okay, if you don't, we'll survive.

You're just going to have to engineers with your graphing paper. That's acceptable too.

That is a yellow pad would be fine if you. All you have is printer paper. Just try to evaluate your horizontal flow of your writing so it doesn't end up needing to be straightened like a picture frame when you're done. So get a piece of paper or two. I think you're going to need at least three pieces of paper. That's going to be my. Depending on. Now, you could write very small, which is fine.

Okay.

You don't need. Yeah, I don't want any witnesses. Right now we're going to talk about notaries, all that stuff. This needs to be in pen. I don't want a pencil. What do you think, Matt? Any other criteria?

Yeah, I was wondering if you were going to drill down on the pen, man, you got all into the paper. What type of weight of paper should I be using?

20 pounds.

I'm using linen or, you know, I

would make it count. Okay.

All right. Use some fancy paper. It could have, you know, can be some scrapbooking paper with some little flowers in the corner too. That works also.

Yeah. And I. Now I would like. This would be classic, like if you saw the movie Knives out recently where they read the will for the family. That's a big moment. So, yeah, I would recommend you have an envelope ready to go and you're gonna seal it after this is completed and put upon my death open with my family present.

I like that.

Because we're going to drop some bombshells, baby. Yeah. Someone's getting cut.

Yeah.

We're going to help you write your will and we're going to be a beneficiary in it. But that's just a small provision.

Okay.

No.

All right, let's get to the tips you got and then we can get into the. You got a tip? You want to go first?

Well, mine's a little light hearted. Do you want to give an official, like more legit?

I have a tip that's on topic. Sometimes I like to be off topic, but this one's. This topic is so big.

I'm going to.

This is on topic.

Okay. You're usually off base. Is there a difference between off base and off topic? Because I don't.

Yeah, it depends on who you're asking.

Okay, what's your tip? We usually do a tax and legal tip, folks. And if you haven't gotten to our podcast, oh my word. We have got close to 2 million downloads now and a lot of 5 star ratings and 300 plus episodes. You're going to love it. So get back into the history. There are great tax and legal tips for small business owners. And I'll say it now you can get over to our website, mainstreetbusiness.com we're going to be launching a lot of new services on that site this year. Really excited about that. But that's where you can also get to the podcast. Leave questions for the open forum show, which I think is in next week, if I'm not mistaken. Okay. So write a question on your small business tax, legal building wealth, and U.S. attorney tax. Nice. Just got nice, guys. We'll do our best.

Yeah. All right. Okay, I'm gonna give my tip. This is about when I was just joking about this. What if you want to cut a kid out? All right. And this is in my. In the newsletter. I wrote an article on this. You have to be careful. The tip is you can't just leave them out. Let's say you got two kids. You got, you know, John and Jane, your two kids.

Or Cain and Abel.

Or Cain and Abel. Okay. And you're like, all right, Abel's out. Yeah.

So maybe that's not a good example. Yeah. Maybe you had other kids than just Cain and Abel. And Abel's out now. So you're like Cain, I'm disinheriting you. What do you do? Yeah, do you just leave them out?

Let me just do John and Jane.

Okay?

All right. I like John and Jane. Let's not get too biblical here, okay?

Okay.

Let's say that John turns out to be a real piece of crap. All right? He's your kid. And you're just like, you know what? There's just. He hates me. Whatever. We just don't have the relationship. And you're like, I don't want him to inherit my state. Well, what you cannot do is just write a will out and say Jane gets my estate. Yeah. You can't just say that. You have to specifically say. If you have children that you want to disinherit, you have to say that. You have to say, I've got a kid, John. I got a kid named Jane. I don't want anything to go to John. I want everything to go to Jane. You need to specifically disinherit child. The law presumes you forgot. If you, if you just say jane gets my estate, they're like, oh, but you had this other kid, so you want to specifically disinherit. That's a tip that might come in handy later as you're writing in your will here who you don't want to get your estate. Now again, your other, your cousins, your friends and everything. You don't need to disinherit them, but your kids in particular and your spouse, you can. It's really hard to disinherit a spouse unless you had a prenup. But, but kids, you can just say it.

Yeah. Now I like Matt's article because it wasn't just about disinheriting. It was about how to deal with problem children. Because sometimes you may not want to disinherit a child, but you certainly don't want to put money in their hands when their life might be a wreck. So you say, okay, if they meet the following criteria, boom, boom, boom, boom. They can have X amount of dollars or a percentage of the estate. Maybe it's John and Jane and you're going to give him half if he gets his act together. But you want to be very clear about what the criteria is and the timeline. But we're going to come back to that. Okay? Now obviously you can tell in Matt's example he chose John as the bad guy and his daughter in that example is not a teenager. Because if his daughter was a teenager, he would have certainly disinherited the daughter. I mean, that's.

The odds would be in your favor though.

These are two fathers of daughters we love, but we just, when they were teenagers, we didn't love them as much, maybe. Is that okay to say?

I think that's normal.

Okay.

All right. We're not surprising anyone there. We're not going out on a limb on that one.

Yeah. Now, speaking of family, my tip is a little more light hearted. I usually give a tax tip or legal tip. And you know what, I'm going to give a tax tip here too. Let's say that you go to the level of doing a full blown estate plan which we'll Talk about a little bit today, too. We want everybody listening to this podcast to write your will. We're doing it. We're doing it here in a minute. But you may want to do something a little more substantive, because as we go through these questions, you're going to go, oh, man. The will is. Okay, I'm going to finish it today, but I need to put on my checklist in 2021 to do my trust. As long as you're doing some business, succession planning, let's say you own a business or some real estate and you're doing some planning for your business affairs, I'd like to write off a portion, if not a lot or all of the cost to do your estate plan because you're doing it for the purpose of protecting your business, and there's business purposes for that document, and I'm okay with that.

I like that.

So that's a good tax tip. Little tax tip.

Because otherwise your expenses you may pay a lawyer to do your state plan would not be a deduction.

Yeah.

For you business owners, real estate owners, I get some legal expense over there.

Yeah. Now here's a side hustle tip. One in three Americans now have a side hustle. Millions of Americans are making money on the side with a small business. Well, do you want to include your side hustle in your will, in your estate? And go, hey, this little side hustle, this little trademark or this little product or service has some value, and I want to leave it to this particular person, family or not. And my will is protecting the value of that business by doing so well. Now, your side hustle can pay the legal fee, the document. I'm okay with that. I like that.

I did not think you were gonna go with that one. That's a new one. I mean, sometimes. I've heard Mark's tips a couple times, and he's heard mine a few. That was a new one. I liked it.

Yeah. Well, thank you, man. I was trying to Wow, y'. All. Okay, now here's the tip. Okay, now, many of you know, if you're a regular listener to the show, our studio here in Idaho is right next door to a Main street hair salon, Just quintessential Main Street America hair salon. So sometimes, because I want to look good for the show, for those that are watching on YouTube, I go over to the studio and I go, hey, ladies, I'm going on the air. Can you help me out? And we kind of have fun with this. You know, I'll sit down, they'll give me a little you know, bouffant, you know, I'm sitting there, all those blue haired babes that are in there, they

do a blowout and you're like, I'm ready to go.

I need a Brazilian blowout in 10 minutes, let's go. So I went over there just to do my hair quickly for the show. And they go, oh, what are you doing today? And I go, well, we're recording the podcast. And they go, how's life? And I go, oh, good in some areas, the rough in others. And she goes, and one of the ladies goes, I got a tip for you. And I thought I might share it here on the show. Just quickly. She said, okay, here's what it is. She goes, mark, did you know in the spring and fall there's more family drama than usual? And I go, I didn't know that. I just have constant trauma. I don't know if there's any ebb or flow of this, but she goes, yeah, no, in spring and fall, because it's a time of renewal or change. Spring and fall. And so you're thinking, you know, you're thinking school starting or school's getting out and maybe there's just more emotion on the brain. I don't know. So she goes, here's what you need to do. I go, okay. She goes, you need to take your wife and or kids one by one and go find a quiet spot and give them your undivided attention and just let them talk about what they're upset about. And she goes, it's going to be hard because it's mostly going to be

about you

and you just need to. She had all these good words about this safe place. You're just gonna listen all this stuff. And I go, I had this face through the whole thing. And she's like, what's wrong? I'm like, what's in it for me? Besides, I just ruined my day? Why am I doing this? And she goes, well, they'll feel better. I go, the hell with them. What am I doing? Who's gonna listen to me? And she goes, well, this isn't about you. I go, what? You ladies are all crazy in here. They're like, I wish my husband did that.

I wish.

And all these ladies are popping off going, you know, need to do that, Mark, just go, listen. I'm like, you know, thank you. Thank you for. Yeah, anyway, I. I don't know, I just, I said, I'll be back after the show. You ladies better come up with some good reasons because I'm not. I Haven't bought what you're selling. And they're like, all right, yeah.

You know, Mark's tax and legal tips are much better than his self help.

I agree.

Tips, you know, I mean, you can't be great at everything. I mean, maybe that salon ladies have their thing and their tits. All right, yeah. But that's what they know.

That's true.

Because they know the drama, they hear the stories.

I mean, yeah, probably some of the females on this listening to the show are like, well, Mark, absolutely, that would make your life so much better. I'm like, not seeing it yet.

Ripping off the band aid. Just get it out there. Just let them get it out there and everybody feels better.

Yeah, they're going to get it out there anyway. Why do I just find a place to sit there and take it?

All right.

Okay. All right. So, Will, are we ready? Okay.

Yeah, let's hit it. Okay, now what we're talking about here, and Mark's going to rattle off some states. We're talking about doing a holographic will, which must be handwritten. You're not typing this sucker up. Okay? Yeah. People, this must be in your handwriting, all right? You can do cursive. It's not required. You could do regular for those of you want to go cursive.

I know some of you techies out there are like, I don't even have a writing utensil in this house. I can't use mine. I know, and I know someone's going to say, can I write it on my iPad and then print it? No, don't do it. Not good.

The laws in your state are not as fast as technology is developed. Okay? We're talking a handwritten will. Okay. You're going to indicate your name.

Okay?

Hold on.

Hold it. Start, okay, at the top of this paper in big size 24 font. Imagine your computer. Yeah, Right. Last. I'm going to do this with everybody. Last will. Okay. Everybody. And you could probably do that on the first line. Last will and testament. Okay.

The legal requirements out and then let's start writing. You don't mind?

Okay, well, okay.

So people know. What the hell has got to happen here?

Okay. Well, I just wanted to get something on paper, so. Ready? Last will and testament. Now put the pen down. Matt's going to tell you where we're headed.

Okay.

Give us the roadmap. Okay.

Okay. I'm going to be. I'm going to lecture a little bit.

Okay.

All right. You're. It must include your name. All right? The date. And you must sign It I actually had a probate case as someone who did a handwritten will that committed suicide right after writing it. Didn't sign it. He wrote the whole thing out. It was in his handwriting. He said who he wanted to get what. He basically disinherited a child. And we went to court and fought over that thing, and everybody eventually settled. But, I mean, it was a sad story all around. But didn't sign it. Okay, so. But that's the requirements. It's got to have your name. Obviously, you're going to put in the details of who gets what, but you're going to sign it and date it.

Okay. Now let's deal with. While we're here. This is good. I'm going to go through a list. Matt, you know where I'm going, probably. Okay. Right, okay. In approximately 25 states. You don't even have to have it witnessed or notarized. I'm going to read those 25 states right now. So if I say your state, then you can just be fine with it today after the podcast, you may send a copy to us. So to put in your file, give a copy to your mom, dad, spouse, whoever. Keep it. You know, make sure it has a copy. We're going to come to some of these protocols after. But you're going to be done today. No more to do. But in these other 25 states, they can be a little different. But I'll just say this. Most of them want two witnesses. That's it. And you don't want to get it witnessed after you sign it. Those witnesses are going to watch you sign it. They don't need to watch you write it, but they need to watch you sign it. Now, you could go to your state, just Google. Let's say Illinois. Illinois is not on the list, people. So just I'm giving an example of Illinois is a problem child.

When you say not on the list, you mean in Illinois you're going to need witnesses. You can't just sign it yourself.

What?

The 25 states we like are the ones where you just get to sign it. Don't even stress about the witnesses. But there are the ones like Illinois that are the problems.

Yep. So one of these problems, I'm just telling you this in advance. If your name is. If your state name is not read off here in a moment. Illinois being an example of what I'm not going to say, just Google it. Illinois holographic will. And it'll take you right to the state website or statute. And 99% of the time they're going to say two witnesses. You're fine. Some may say notary, some may not. So we're giving you a, we're giving a disclaimer here that it would not hurt before you sign it to just double check if you're in one of these states. We're not going to read off if it's one or two witnesses and if you should have a notary or not. Okay, let's stay with this witness thing for one more minute. The witnesses cannot be someone that's getting something in your will. That's a general rule. Because they're, they're, they have a conflict of interest.

Yeah. There's state variations on that. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. But to be safe, and since we're making this a very general podcast, don't have them be the personal rep or someone getting something in here even. And they got it. But they got to be 18.

Yeah.

Or older in most states.

So you, and so you want to be careful. Your friend who thinks they're getting something when you say, come over and witness my will, and all of a sudden they realize they're not getting anything. They may not mow that part of the lawn, you know, that part of the lawn where you wish your neighborhood mow. And when they're really nice to you, they do. But then sometimes they go straight down that line just to, just jerks.

Okay, I don't get mowing lawns in Arizona. Just don't. Maybe they, you know, spread the rock the weeds in my rocks.

That's true. Matt does not have lawn. Okay? Now they have to be 18 and not receiving something in the will to be a witness. And they need to watch you sign it. Okay? Now here's the list. Without any further ado, if I list off now, this is today, May 19, 2021. The laws can change by tomorrow, so it never hurts to double check with a quick little Google search. But let me just tell you right now, everybody on the show, by the way, everybody, today you're going to write out your will. It's just if I don't name your state, you're going to wait to sign it until you're in front of two people.

Okay?

That's our guideline today. All right? Here's the states where, where you don't need to get your neighbor to come over. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado. Now, if you've noticed, this is in alphabetical order. So, so you can real quick figure out you're not on the list here in a moment. Okay? So we Go from Colorado to Hawaii to Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. If I named your state, you're going to have a completed, valid will in the next 30 minutes. 40 minutes. You're welcome.

I like that list. That kind of sound like the NCAA college basketball tournament list right there. North Carolina.

And the number one draft pick goes to West Virginia.

All right, well, I. Okay, that's awesome. I think all those. There's a lot of big states there, a lot of states where we have clients, and many of you may be listening. Like Mark said, you're gonna be done here in 30 minutes, so.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

Now let's work our way through that list. We got last will and testament up at the top.

Okay.

You know, and here's what I like to do. The beginning, you tell me your style. You know, this is. There's some style and art to this, you know, and there's some just legal requirements. The first thing, remember, you got to put your name.

Okay.

Now, I like throwing in there, you know, I'm Matt Sorenson of sound Mind.

I like that. Everybody write that. I'm going to write this. I, Mark Kohler. Should I write who thinks I'm of sound mind? Or should I just say of sound mind?

Yeah.

I, Mark Polar. Okay, write this out. Everybody being of sound mind. So write your name. I so and so be comma, being of sound mind.

Okay. Do hereby make this last will and testament. Do hereby all prior last will and testaments. Okay.

Do hereby. So I name comma, being of sound mind. Do hereby make this last will and testament. And one more comma. And revoke all prior wills and last testaments. Do I have to say. And last testaments. Okay, let's do all prior wills and last testament.

Little style. Now, by saying all the hereby stuff and everything, it makes it sound very official. It's not necessary. That's really filler language. But you know us lawyers, we like to throw that stuff in and sound very well.

There's a reason why, too. Some of you go, I hate legalese. And we're gonna do this throughout. We're gonna make sure you write it in certain legalese. The reason why is because when you say it in a casual manner, sometimes it can be misinterpreted. So legal language is there for a reason. It's not to bug you or to sound like we're smarter than someone. It's just because you know, hey, this is Mark. Yeah, you know, we just want to stay away from common language if possible. Okay, so that's number one. I, Mark Kohler being a sound mind. Da, da, da, da. Okay.

All right. Can I keep going or you want to? Okay, I want to. Okay.

I want to say article one.

Okay.

I want to have sections. Can we do article one now?

Yep. Article one.

Okay, so right in the center of the page, a little smaller font than your last rule and Testament. Put Article 1. If you're watching on YouTube, here's mine so far so you guys can all see it. Oh, that's a little out of focus. But you can see right there.

Okay.

On YouTube, that's what mine looks like. Okay, article one.

Now, the first thing I think you want to identify is whether you're married and have a spouse and whether you're have. Whether you have children. And let's name them all.

Okay. So my family. Can I just say my family is or should say I am.

I would say I am married to blank.

Okay. I am single, not married.

Just say I am not married.

Okay, now here's. We got to digress from. Well, I'm going to digress right now. Some of you may be in the middle of a divorce. Does that mean you can't do a will? No, let's still do it. And we're going to. I would say at some point here, in fact, I might even suggest it in this article, say if I die before the divorce is complete, here's what I'd like. But you can't disinherit your husband or wife until you're divorced.

But some people are in the middle of a divorce. You're getting legal advice right now. You're not doing this. I'm sorry, I'm like, that's asking a little much to complete in this handwritten will here.

Yeah, that's probably true. Yeah. Because we do it. We do it. We'll say, here's my will. And if once I'm divorced, here's what I want you to do, you could say something like that. So I'm just going to throw that out. I would get legal advice, but I would say I am currently married, beginning a divorce. I want this will to go into effect upon the divorce proceedings being final.

So if you're it. And here's what Mark's getting at too. And this is an important legal point. If you don't have a prenup or a post nuptial agreement where you said, my assets are mine, my spouse's assets, are theirs. If you're married, your spouse has a entitlement to half of your estate in almost every state. So you can't say, I'm married and I want my spouse to get nothing. You can't say that. So we need to identify up front whether you're married or not. And I think in the flow of this, it helps later on as we start to say who gets what. So if you say, I'm not married, easy. You know what to do later. And we say, who gets what? If you're like, I am married, then we. You're normally going to say, my spouse is going to get all of my estate when I pass. Or maybe they get half and my. And if I have kids, they get the other half. There's things we'll work through in a minute here, but I just think we got to. You got to. You're going to have a lane there. You married people versus not married.

Yeah, yeah. And I'll just say, in summary, take a breath, everybody. If you're in the middle of a divorce, I'm sure you're talking to a lawyer. And if you say, can I write a will? They're going to say, not while you're married, but while you're on this podcast, you can write a will. And right here you'd say, I'm currently married, getting divorced. I want this will to be effective upon the finalization of my divorce. And then just keep writing. Let's keep doing it. But this will you don't have to worry about, because a lot of people get divorced and then they procrastinate again. They don't have anything written down. So you get to. This is your wish list. Any of you getting divorced, this is exciting because you're like, I'm going to write this will because when I'm divorced, this is what I would want to happen. So we're going to do it. Okay, but that's a side lane. Let's get back to, okay, I am married to so and so or I am single. Yep, just write that. People I am married to.

I would just say I'm married or I am not married. Okay, Okay.

I am married. I think you should say, who. Let's say I'm married to someone.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm married to blank. Yeah, but if you're not married, I don't know. Single again. I just like, oh, yeah, you're married or not.

Okay. Yeah, okay, I'm married.

No, I'm not single. I'm in a relationship. No, we're not Talking about that. Yeah. Your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn't get anything.

Yeah.

You're married or you're not.

Yeah. This is not a Facebook option. Yeah.

Right.

Yeah. And when you say dot, dot, dot, status. Yeah. In a relationship, I'm not going to go into an ABBA song with dot, dot, dot, even though I'd like to.

Oh, that's a good one.

Could you actually.

Yeah.

From Mamma Mia. She's reading. Oh, Corey. We're getting a shout out from Corey. That's very cultured of you to see Mamma Mia. Cory.

Okay, yeah.

All right. I am married to or I am not married. Okay.

And then I would say next, I have the following children. Then list your children and birthdays. Yeah, that'd be helpful.

I like birthdays, so I have children. Of course, those that have, you know, you'd say, I am not married, I have children. Or you'd say, I'm not married and I have no children. If that's the case. Okay. Okay. Now some of you may. I'm going to digress here. One more, too. Some of you that are younger going, I don't need a will. I have nothing. Well, you have something. You might have a car. You might have a little life insurance. You might have a 401k from your old job. You might have a piece of crap guitar. You might. That's stuff. That's what a will's for, people. Okay, I am not married. I have children. Their names are as follows. I have children, comma. Their names are as follows. Now, some of you are already realizing you're going to just scratch this down and you're going to probably rewrite it when we're done with a little better penmanship. So if you're scratching some things out and you're sick of Matt and I.

This is draft one, junior high. You do your rough draft, you turn it in, and then you do your final draft. And then you know that's what you're getting graded on.

So. So their names are as follows. Okay. Now, if you adopted children, you would say, I have adopted this child. Because you want to be clear if you have.

Yeah.

And if you. If there's a kid in the mix, like say you're married and you've got stepchildren, you want to say, I have the following children. And maybe be clear here and say, the following are not my children and are not included in this will, if that's the case.

Yeah. So your blood children or children you have adopted are going to presume to be heirs that you're going to have to specifically write out stepchildren. Not. But it is good to be clear in case, like Mark said at that unveiling, your family's opening up the letter, and the step kids are there, and they're like, what do I get? And you got them nothing. You know you want. You just say that. I mean, don't leave it up. Don't leave that question out there. Yeah.

And because what's going to happen later in a article here in a minute, we're going to say, I leave my children the following as defined in Article 1. So right now, this allows us to use the word children in a blanket statement. By the way, this is a whole semester in law school, and we're trying to do this in a podcast. This is still very ambitious. Okay, so I have children. Their names are as follows. I've adopted the following children. And then if you have stepchildren or anything weird, some kid that appears to be sleeping on your couch every night say, these following people are not my children, even though they think they are. And they eat my house out of my. What do they eat? Food out of house and home. Whatever they say, eat me out of house and home. They're.

They're.

They're not my kids. It's better you list them than not. Like Matt said at the beginning, I'm not kidding. Pool boy is not mine. Okay.

Okay. Can I. Okay, Can I hit the next area?

Yeah. Everybody's asking, what did Arnold Schwarzenegger put in his will? That's what everybody's asking, right?

He didn't die, did he?

No, but.

Okay. I was like, oh, dang.

Let's say he did his will when he was with Maria, and then we had the illegitimate child of the housekeeper. Deep. Okay, that's a probate waiting to happen. Okay. Article two.

Right. Okay. Arc two. I designate the following person as my executor.

Okay, Go slow. I designate. Go slow. I designate the following person

as my executor.

As my executor or personal representative.

Or personal representative or personal representative. I just do. Period. No, colon, colon. Okay.

I designate the following person. Okay, now just talk about who this is. Go ahead.

Okay, Little quick tip for just, you know, some style points. On your holographic will, if you're listing a female, sometimes they're referred to as an executrix, not an executor.

I like.

So, you know, you don't have to go with that, you know, but. Okay, who do you think that should be? That you gotta think right now, right you knew who your spouse was, if you had one. You knew who your kids were. Now you got to think, well, crap, who am I putting in charge?

Okay, now let's talk about what this person does. Yeah. Okay, I'll give a couple ideas. The executor or personal representative. In fact, it's almost easier to say it this way. There's several people involved. The personal representative or executor, from now on, we're just going to call him executor. The executor's job is to hand out all your assets, handle the funeral, prep the eulogy, pay for the funeral expenses, go close your bank account, transfer the car. Some of you that are younger saying, well, I got a couple grand in crypto right now, or, okay, they got to deal with that. So you got to. Who's this executor? Now, you may have a guardian for your children. That's different. You may have someone that. Yeah, that's your health care power of attorney. That's different. You might have a trustee. That's different. Now, in my article today that came out on my blog was about Prince for any of you 80s fans. Purple Rain, Prince singer, pop singer of the 80s, died without a will. And the court appointed a big bank and trust company to be the executor. Because if you don't do a will and you don't appoint your executor, the court's going to appoint someone. It's usually not going to be family because that just is a recipe for a fight. And it is. Executors, let me give you a tip. Can be very expensive. I am sure the bank handling Prince's estate has made millions over the last five years dealing with all the crap in Minnesota with his probate because he had no will. So you want to name someone, but it can be family. Matt, what do you like to look for in an executor?

Well, if you're married, you probably would list your surviving spouse as an executor. It's possible. You don't have to, but that's very common if you're married. A lot of times they know what. Where all your stuff is anyways, and they're gonna get it anyways. You know, again, we're gonna get to who gets what here in a moment. I like siblings, actually, sometimes, too. Here. One thing I'll say is don't list parents. You know, like, people older than you. You know, I just. That. That one just. They could predecease you. Plus, they get old. They don't want to deal with it. I don't like listing the parents. Maybe you've got a friend or a business partner, too, Someone you invest with that would know your finances and the people in your life that you've obviously trusted with to go in business with them. That could be a good person, too.

I'd like to choose someone that's local. I think that helps because it's someone that needs to be around during the funeral and going through the house. They're the. They're the police chief. Of going through the house and keeping everybody at bay. And some people say, make your worst enemy your executor. It is not a fun job. It is not a fun job. And there's a lot of liability. If they were to steal some of your assets, they have what is called a fiduciary duty to carry out your will and to make good decisions. If they are fraudulent or reckless or negligent, in some states, the beneficiaries might sue them. They'd say, you squandered our money, you idiot. And you know, you were supposed to be an executor, and you just moved into the house and started living there. That's not fair. So you want to choose someone you trust.

Yep. And that executor is gonna have to go to court. This is one of the things of a will that's different than a trust is a will has to go to probate. So your personal representative, or executor here, again, we're calling him executor in general, is gonna have to take this will. The original copies are tricky. We want to have copies just as a backup, but the original needs to go to probate court. Yeah. And they're gonna have to take that and say, hey, probate court, this person died. Here's their will. Here's their death certificate. There's notices that have to go out for spouses and kids and everybody that have to go in the process. And then the court, as long as there's no issues, is going to say, okay, executor, here's an order. You're the executor on this estate. Take this piece of paper from the court. That's an order. And sometimes there's other names for things you'll get. And that's how the executor gets to go around and move all the assets around the various places. You know, sell the house, do all that stuff.

Yeah. Because if you go to sell the house as the executor, the title company is going to Go. Who the hell are you? Well, I'm the executor.

I got a will here. It says I'm listed. Yeah, I don't care. Until a court, you know, stamps that and signs an order saying you are, you ain't.

Okay, now let's move along. So what you want to do? I designated the following person as my executor, comma, or personal representative. Now write that name there right now. Now, some of you may say, well, I need to think about it. Nope, just write it down.

Write the person you're thinking now. You can come and do a new one next month if you think of someone else.

That's right. We get sick and tired of people that are like, well, I need to think about this. Nope, you can always change it later. So write down this name. Okay? Now, it could be your spouse or anybody, young or old friend. Some people appoint their lawyer. Accountant, we're very often named. Okay, then you have another sentence if so, and so the person you just. You're going to start a new sentence if so, and so cannot serve or is unwilling to serve. I appoint. To be backup. You could put the replacement executor the, you know, but to be backup. Backup. Okay. Now in the trusts and wills we do for clients, we'll do another sentence and say, if so, and so can't do it. There's a third. We want three people. We want number one, number two, and backup number three. One other nuance. You can have a team of executors. You can say, I appoint my brother and my sister and as co executors, but again, get legal consult at that point. Okay, so you're going to point. Okay, Article 3. Turn to my page over Article 3, center it.

For those of you that have kids that are under the age of 18, you need to designate a guardian for your kids. All right? Now, if your kids have another parent in their life, whether you're married or not, that other parent, when you pass, is going to be the guardian. Okay? So, you know, you're not going to say, well, if I die and I've got an ex or I've got a spouse, I want this person to be guardian. No, the other parent is going to become guardian, right?

Yep.

Now, if you're the. Now a lot of people, particularly if you're married, are going to say, if I'm, you know, pass away and my spouse passes away, maybe you go together in a car accident or something, you know, then that unfortunately happens. I want someone to be the guardian of my children. And Again, this is for minors under the age of 18.

Okay? Now, as you can see, people, this is why a legal consult and doing a will or trust plan with all the pieces and parts will tell you. We have a special every year that's going on right now. We'll tell you a little later what you may say. This is too much. I just want to talk through it in my situation and have you guys do it.

Cool.

Just hear us out. This is a good podcast, too, so you know these terms, but I would realize, I would recognize that if it gets a little complicated here, don't stress out. We can do it for you. But keep learning here. Now, this is where you could write. Here's some example verbiage. If you have no children, Article 3 is going to be the next article. So we're going to come to that in the middle. But if you have children, you're going to say, if I pass away, I appoint my spouse as the guardian of my children. If you're not married, you'd say the same thing. Because your ex, you can't take away what's called parental rights. Your ex husband or ex wife has the right as the biological parent to be the parent unless those have been terminated by the court. And some of you may be in that situation. Well, my ex was so crazy on drugs and rehab, the court took away their parental rights. Well, you could say that. Because my spouse had his parental rights taken away by the court in XYZ county, comma, I hereby appoint so and so to be the guardian of my children. Okay, you're going to say that I hereby appoint. I'm going to write it down right now. I hereby appoint the following person. I hereby appoint the following person to be the guardian of my children under age 18. There you go, the guardian. Okay, now, Matt, what do you want to say about parents on this one? I know you and I share the same feeling on this.

Yeah, don't list your parents. Let them stay grandma and grandpa, you know, and they might be a more involved grandma and grandpa if you pass away. But I like siblings. Here, keep it in the family. Your siblings might have kids the same age. And think of yourself when you were a kid, you know, think of if your parents passed away, where would it have been natural for you to go? You know, some people might think, ah, my friend, you know, but like, no, really, like, what would have been the best for you? And I think for many people it would have been maybe going to an aunt and uncle. You got some cousins, you're still within the family. That's, that's likely what I would have, where I would go.

Okay. Okay, Matt. Well, I'm going to take a different approach or view point, if that's okay. Sure. This never happens.

It's not a first. It's not the first time.

Okay. And, and I. We're trying to keep this topic light, but there are going to be times. So there's going to be some difficult stories talking about people's death. It's tough. Everybody has different beliefs and experiences. I had an uncle die this last Sunday. Loved the guy. He was the first one that took me on a sleigh with horses behind it. He's the uncle up in Newdale, Idaho, with the potato farms, thousands of acres, really close to. But he had a great life. He was older. And I think when you have someone that's older and has had a. All those life experiences, you're like, hey, this is a, it's a, it's almost like a family reunion. But when you have those sudden deaths, unexpected suicide like you referenced earlier, or someone in a car accident, or you never got to say goodbyes, an accident. So those are really, really difficult. I've got to be careful because this is another client of ours that could very well be listening to the podcast. I'm trying to get her to on a regular basis, but she's in her early 20s. I'm going to even say 21, 22. And I'll just say both of her parents died and no wills went into probate. And you would have thought, well, the oldest daughter, there's three younger siblings. The next youngest was in high school and she, she was just graduated from high school. So this is a year or two ago. And she was headed off to college and the debate was, should she raise the kids? And that would have been tragic. And luckily the sister of the mother stepped up and said, we really want to raise these three younger kids. Let's let the oldest daughter go off to college and kind of have a life. And so I know there's instances where you may have an older child that is in their late 20s or early 30s. They may have one child or two of their own, and you might have a younger kid that's coming along and living with a sibling could be a good fit. But I think you've got to be careful and look at. Is really that the right time and age for a sibling to raise younger siblings? And it could be the worst thing in the world. So it is, it's so tricky. But anyway, so there was my take on that, I think.

Okay,

I've got one other one. My wife and I, we had none of our siblings were really a good choice for us.

Okay. Sometimes it's just. It's not, you know, and sometimes geographic things and, you know, I mean, who knows?

Right. And so one thing in this will that is in this same. We're going to talk about this in an article to come up is

we

chose a guardian that was a God couple. And see, that's a lot of a big issue, too. Are you going to choose a couple? What happens if they get divorced? Are you going to choose a person young or old? What's their life experience? And so a lot of people later in the will here, we're going to say in this section, who's going to raise my kids if it's not my surviving spouse? Are we going to keep our kids in the same school, in the same neighborhood and try to create at least as much normalcy as we can? And so we chose a couple and we said, we want you to move into our house. They were a younger couple and they were friends of both sides of our family. Now, my mom was ticked when she found this out. I can't believe you're not going to have our side of the family raise the kids. I'm like, oh, my gosh, my mom was just ready for a fight. But that's what happens if you don't have a will, so.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And she would have been having that fight with your other side of the family.

Yeah.

You know, or this person who got thrown in the mix who was, you know, who may have volunteered because they thought maybe you would have wanted that. But if you have it in writing, everyone's just following your wishes and that makes it easy. And who better would know than you? So. Okay, I like that. That's a good tip.

Yep. Okay, so on Article 3, you're going to do the same sentence you did in Article 2, that if this person is unable or unwilling to serve, so and so should be the backup.

Yep.

So make sure you have that sentence. Okay.

You got a backup guardian?

Okay.

Okay.

Article four, now it gets a little more interesting. So article one. Who I am family. And who's going to raise my kids? Who's my executor? What do you like Article 4?

I like to outline specific assets first. Okay.

Okay.

Sometimes it's like, well, I own a boat with my brother, and so when I die, my brother's getting the boat, you know, Or I've got that Partner in a business that's a specific asset. When I pass away, that partner in that business gets that specific asset. So sometimes it's easiest to knock out a few things that are very specific up front. And then we're going to say, and everything else gets split up in equal parts and sold to these people. But there's these few things that are. Things like, that are specific that maybe I co. Own with someone or has certain sentimental value to one person over another. Maybe list any specific assets you have first here. And so I would say specific bequests. Yeah. Specific requests. That's what we call, like. But I would say you. What you could say here is I hereby, okay.

Leave the following asset.

I was going to say bequeath, if I could. I mean, when can I ever say that word if not. Yeah, yeah. I hereby bequeath the following specific assets to the following individuals. Okay, now you go here. You're going to say what the asset is and who gets it.

And this is a great bullet point list. In fact, I would even do bullet points. You want to go 1, 2, 3, 4 because. Yeah, because it's going to say article 3 or 4, depending on if you had children or for article 3, article 4, number 1, number 2, number 3. So use numbers or ABCD. Okay.

And let me give you an example on how to do this. So then let's say, let's say, you know, the 2012, you know, whatever boat. I don't even know a cool boat name. I couldn't even supra. What's a cool boat?

What's a cool boat, Corey? A bay. What do they call them? Bay.

Bayliner.

Those aren't cool. Well, you can spend a lot on a bayliner.

Oh, okay. All right. Okay. How about, let's say.

No, I'm gonna leave the yacht.

The Mastercraft. Oh, the yacht. Okay. But you gotta identify it. Unless everybody knows what you know.

I mean, the Million Dollar Yacht.

Okay, you know what I mean? Let's make this easy. Okay, let's say it's the, the 1972 Corvette that's your prized possession, that's in your garage. Okay. All right. Okay. Since Mark and I know nothing about boats, clearly, obviously the 1972 Corvette,

you

know, so you say that on one line and then next to it you'd say who gets it?

Okay. And.

And I would list their name and their city and state. Sometimes it's confusing who is who. And you know, if you have a junior or senior in your family, you know, where it's somebody be confused who this person is. But I like in identifying them a little more than just their name here in this section because it's not your kids, it's not your parents that you're gonna immediately, everybody's gonna know, oh, that's what you intended. If you're like Ron Johnson, I don't know. Is that Senator Ron Johnson? Is that, was that. Did he meant to write Ron Swanson? Who knows?

Let me just say, Matt, you had me at meat tornado. I'll just say that. Okay, now. Okay, now I'm going to read this. Everybody take a breath. I know we're joking around a little bit here, but Article 4, specific bequests at the center right below Article 4, I hereby bequeath the following assets to the following individuals. And you're going to go A, B, C, D. Now there's a variety of things to deal with. It could be a, I leave the grand piano to so and so. I leave my 3006 shotgun from Grandpa Jones to so and so kid. I leave my wedding ring to so and so. And these are things that could be outside the bounds of a spouse and you're not going to have a problem. This is personal property. If it's of extreme value, a spouse that got disinherited, that item could make a claim in the probate proceeding. But 98.9% of the time you're not going to have a problem with these specific assets. Now if I could say, if that asset you're giving has a debt that goes with it, say it, say I'm going to leave the boat or I'm going to leave the cabin to so and so and they have to take over the mortgage. If they don't want to take over the mortgage, they don't get the asset. The assets going to go into the pool and sold with everybody else or they can keep the cabin and they can sell it if they want and keep the proceeds. Write as much as you want. Say it just like that. They John gets the cabin, he's got to take the mortgage. If he sells it within a year, he's got to give the money back to the other people and share it with so and so. Or just write down, write a book.

Yeah, yeah, I like that. And I think being like in, in this type of structure when you're writing out, just being as clear and direct as possible is, is the best. Don't try and do an exception to the exception to the exception, you know, and be like, well, but if this enough, not that then this. But if that person doesn't do this, then you're gonna like. Yeah, that's going to get screwed up. Yeah.

I think in this section too this is a good time to deal with the guardian because whoever you're making the guardian of your children may not be a person that's getting any inheritance. So you want to carve out a little something for them. And that's what we do. This is where a full on estate plan. We probably should digress to that here in a moment before our next article. But if at this level, say out of my life insurance, out of my estate, of my equity in my home, or choose somewhere there's money, say my guardian gets 50 grand of that because they need that money to take care of the kids. So carve out some money for them and.

Yeah, yeah. And then like a trust, the trust can like pay it yearly or monthly and keep it over time in the will. It's going to be a one and done. Typically you're going to say, you know, now you could try and create a trust within a will that has to get probated. Pain in the butt. So I think what you just said, 50 grand, pick the dollar amount that you think would be helpful for that guardian to receive. And maybe it's the family that doesn't need the money as much, but it's still a good token, I think, to show them. Thank you for taking on this responsibility and know for my most important thing, I'm leaving behind my kids, you know. Yeah.

Okay, now article five. I. I'm gonna, I think there's gonna be other articles here where we talk about funeral and burial instructions and maybe a few other things. But do we want to do the main piece right here or save it for the climax at the end?

I think is where you do it. Yeah.

Article five, distribution of assets.

Yeah, I would say this. All right, Article five here now people got to get paid, right?

Yep.

The mortician. The tax man. The tax man. Tax man.

What movie is that from?

Yeah, I don't know.

The tax man. She's in the bakery and she's yelling at him. Stranger than fiction.

Oh, stranger than fiction.

Yeah.

Okay. I don't remember that. Okay. All right, so we're gonna say the.

Okay, so article five. Okay, so article five, Article five, Payment of expenses. This is subtitle. Payment of expenses.

Now you're gonna write all of them. Go ahead. You want to do that?

No, no, no. Okay.

Are we going to do it like acapella duet there?

Yeah, you say it.

Okay. All right, so we're going to say all of my assets not specifically identified above.

Everybody write that down. All of my assets not specifically identified above, comma, shall be.

Yeah. Shall be sold, and the proceeds shall be used to first pay debts, expenses, taxes, and costs of my estate.

Love it.

Period.

I don't think we should try and say that again. If you need to, just hit rewind on your podcast. Little 10 second button. Do they go back 10 seconds or 30 seconds? 10 seconds. 30 seconds. Yep. Okay. That was perfectly stated, my co host.

Okay. All right, so thank you.

Pay all my expenses. Sometimes it'll say, I direct my executor to sell all of my assets.

Yeah.

Pay all my expenses and collect all my wealth into one bucket. There's different ways to say it. And folks, if we. If we say it a way you don't like, and you look at other wills online and go, those guys are stupid. I could say that better. Then say it better. We're riffing. Matt's a guitarist. This is called riffing.

Yeah, we're just riffing, you know.

So, okay, that's article five, all right? Payment of debts.

All right. Article six. Okay? The good one, the one you want to go to if you're on the. If you're, you know, maybe a potential beneficiary here, you want to go, right? Article six, okay? This is who gets what.

Distribution of assets. That's the subtitle. So Article 6, then you'd center right below it. Distribution of assets. Okay, Can I say this one? I get a shot at this one. Okay. All right. I direct my executor to distribute the residue of my estate to the following individuals in the following percentages. Okay? ABCD 1, 2, 3, 4.

Because we already said the executor is going to sell everything else in five and pay expenses. And then the residue, as you said. The residue.

The remaining remainder of my estate.

Yeah, however you like it. I mean, residue works, you know, Tomato, tomato. Yeah. Okay, cool. Now. Now this is again, probably another bullet point here and where we want to put names and percentages next to those. Okay? Now again, if it's a person you're dropping in here, that someone might be, like, who the hell is this? Or it's someone that's a senior junior. Let's be specific on who they are. You know, if it's your. It's your mistress over there that no one knows who the hell she is, and you're dropping this bomb in your. In your will when you die. Let's. You're gonna have to identify who that person is, you know?

So now this. This is a great tangent time. No, I loved it. I loved it. I got. I want to tell my golf course story. Yeah, dude, no, no, no, I love it. I love it. Okay. I mean, I don't want the mistress dropped on anyone or Mr. Yeah.

I mean, just. I'm just trying to keep it light, you know?

Yeah, yeah. Okay, let me throw this out now. This. Let's digress here for a moment. Every year we do. This will be the 11th year we've done our annual estate planning special. For one month out of the year, we provide about a 20% discount on our estate plans. We try to create. We bring in staff from other parts of the firm to try to create an efficient system for all those procrastinators out there to get their estate plan done. Just to freaking knock it out. We're systemized. It's like a. It's a time to, like, come in and get her done. It's that time of the year, the farmer's market. You can go get fresh fruit. Let's just do it. Get in there, get out. So this year, the price is $1,200, typically $1,500 for any individual, married or single in any state, to get their will trust, powers of attorney, living will, power of his attorney for health care, funeral and burial instructions, a consult with an attorney for at least an hour, or whatever you need. Typically try to keep within an hour to an hour and a half to discuss it, review it, approve it, and it goes out to you in a binder with all sorts of bells and whistles, if you'd like to get that done. And say, but no, we'd still recommend. Do your written will right now. And then if you're like, I want to get it done right, start the process. You can go to any of our websites. It's on all of our websites. A little link for the special this year. Would you add anything to that? Yeah.

And remember, there's other documents in here about, you know, if I'm in a vegetative state, do I want the plug pulled? Okay, you're going to need to do that in a different type of document than you can in this holographic will. The trust is. Avoids probate. There's all these other things that go into estate planning that make it better, but we're just trying to get you the bare bones here and to get something in place now that you don't have to pay $1 for. Okay. Just, you know, we. That's what our goal is here. But we know many of you are thinking, man, I really should. I mean, knock out 1200 bucks. It's done. I want to amend it. Easy. Just, you know, you want to cut someone out, one page amendment. You don't need to redo the whole thing. Just amend it in one page. Okay?

Now, the reason why I bring this up is because I'm about to add a sentence to Article 6, Article 5 for some of you without children, but this applies to everybody. Article 6 can get a little hairy. And I was just like, what do we normally say in our trust and will? And so I went to go pull it up on my desktop, and we. We have an artist state plan is 88 pages long because we try to think of everything, everything. Pets, guns, real estate, businesses, second marriages, his kids, our kids, their kids, grandkids. I mean, so we've got all sorts of bells and whistles in this, and it's all one price. Some people go, well, I paid four grand for mine. Yours guys must suck. It's got to be a crappy document because someone quoted me three grand. No, we believe an estate plan should be affordable. I've done the same estate plan for $10 million clients. Same plan. I don't care. And so you are getting a document we have crafted over 20 years. Every sentence in here has got mine and Matt's blood on it, going through it and trying to, like, make it perfect. All right, so here's my next sentence. So you've said, I'm going to distribute my assets to the following individuals in the following percentages. Now, here's where it gets hairy. Each share. Write this down, people. This is your next sentence. Each share set aside for a person above who is deceased, comma, shall be distributed in the following manner. Because what happens if someone is predeceased? You. That's on that list. Option 1. If they have living descendants, they shall receive it per stirpes. I'll explain what that means in a minute. Who has then? Living descendants shall be distributed to those descendants per Stirpes. Now, if that's P, E, R. Stirpes is spelled S T I, R, P E, S. It's not herpes, it's stirpes.

Okay? Okay.

Do you want to explain what that means, man?

Yeah. So let's give an example. Let's say you had three kids, okay? You were. You didn't have a spouse at the time. Let's just keep it easy. You had three kids. And let's say by the time you pass away, one of your kids had Predeceased you.

You.

And you listed three of them here. So you. But you had two left. Okay, well option one here is going to say. If you're going to follow option one, that's going to say, well, my kid that has already passed away, I want it to go to my kids heirs. All right? And that, that if that kid had a surviving spouse, their surviving spouse would get it. If that kid had children, their children would get it.

I'm going to disagree on one point. Okay, let's stick with your example. You had a. Tom and Mary had three kids. One of their kids pre deceased them and they pull out this handy dandy wheel that they just did today on the podcast. If that child. What we're trying to define here is where does that child of theirs money go? So if they were to get a third of the estate. So let's say there was a million dollars and if you had life insurance, 401k, an IRA and a house, you could easily have a million dollars. So each one of your kids would get 300,000. The sentence I just said said that my kids descendants, if they've deceased me, then has living descendants shall get their share, which would be the third. Per stirpes. So if my kid had two kids, then they would get it. Per stirpes. 50. 50 of the third. Their spouse doesn't get it. Yeah, it's their kids get it. So you're trying to keep it in the bloodlines because you may hate your kid's spouse. So you're saying I'm going to give my. If any of my kids dies before me, their share is divided per stirpes, which means equally among their kids, bloodline

or adopted or grandkids. Yes, grandkids.

Their spouse wouldn't get it. Did we say the same thing? When you said spouse, I kind of wanted to go down.

No, you're right. Right. You corrected me. That's. That's correct. That's per Stirpes. Okay. Right. So this, if you just say now, you know, maybe you love the spouse and you want. And that spouse would need to take care of. I mean, you could say that their

spouse would get it.

But per Stirpes, it does follow bloodline, essentially. And so it would go like Mark said to your grandkids in that example of your child that had predeceased you.

Okay, here's option B.

Got nothing.

Yep. Now here's option B. If a deceased child has no living descendants, the share allocated to them shall go to their spouse if married. That's option B. So you say hey, my kid's married, but no kids, no grandkids. But I want that spouse to get their share. So you'd say that if they have no living descendants, if married, their spouse shall get their share. Option C, as in Charlie, if a deceased beneficiary above has no living descendants and is not married, their share shall be split with the other living beneficiaries. So they lose it. It's dead at that.

So your two surviving kids get it 50, 50 now.

Yep.

It's not one third anymore. It's just going 50, 50 to their two kids. Now if you go back to the spouse, one, if this is that these from the language here, it's like if you were. If you listed one of your kids, let's say, and they've died, they're not married, are they technically to the surviving spouse. So they were. If they were married at the time of their death and had a surviving spouse, that spouse could then inherit. Again, if this is what you wanted, maybe. And some people are like, you know what? Skip that piece. I want it to go to my grandkids, but if my kids gone, I don't want to go to their surviving spouse. I'd rather go to my other kids. You know, so you can deviate here however you want, but this middle piece, I just think if we want it to go to. To surviving spouse of a kid that died before you did say it.

But if not, say that.

Yeah, say that. And they're technically not, you know, they're dead. They're not married. I don't know. Are you married? So when you're dead. I don't know.

No, no. That's a great one. So it's funny. I.

Correct. I know spiritually you might, but from a legal stand point, I don't.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

And I love it. I corrected you on purse stirpes. You corrected me on B. Because I said some of you may have caught that. Hold it. A kid that's dead, their spouse. No, they're dead.

They're surviving spouse.

Yeah.

You're widowed or, you know, so. And I think that's why we have two co. That's why we have co hosts for this show.

Yeah. Now, okay, some of you here, here's something we should have started with, but I didn't want to interrupt Matt's example at the beginning. I'm going to call out Christy Parker at our firm. She's one of our attorneys. She's adorable. She's got a fun, fun personality. So I'm going to joke out. I'm going to joke about her and she, she'd appreciate it. I'm going to say, use Christie as an example. Christy is not married and has no children that she knows about. I mean, I could say that about some guys, you know, but yeah, for

women, I was like, yeah, I think you'd know.

I think she'd know. Some of you guys out there that are single, I can say you don't have any children that you know of, you know, But Christie, I think she don't. Okay, so Christie has no children and is not married. So I would have done Matt's example from the beginning. All of you out there that are single, you would start this parent, this out, this sentence by going, if any of the beneficiaries above. Because, see, Christy's going to say, I give the residue of my estate to the following beneficiaries. They're not going to be children. Could be your nieces, could be our parents, a brother or sister. So you're going to start this section out, Article 6, by saying, I leave the residue of my estate to the following individuals in the following percentages. Those don't have to be kids. And then you would say the next sentence. If any of the above beneficiaries are deceased, their share shall what you decide go to their living descendants, go to their surviving spouse, get, go nowhere, go to charity, go back to the pool and split with the other living beneficiaries. Just say it. Be as clear as you can.

Yeah. And sometimes what the word is is per capita versus instead of per stirpes when you want it to. If that person's not living and is predeceased, you would say that the, the state would be distributed per capita.

Yeah.

So they get back into the three and, and you know, one of them is dead and two are left. The two get 50. 50. It goes, it goes right back and goes per capita to who's left. Yeah.

And those descendants, you can say those descendants share with my other children per capita. So the two kids of the deceased child would come back up and we'd have four. You know, if, but if that's what you say, say I want my deceased child grandkids to get in the mix and go per capita. Then the, the two kids grandkids would now share with the two aunt and uncle per se.

That would be complicated that way. That's a purse herpes and a per capita thing. So you, if you're writing this out, you got to be careful on that because per capita a lot of times mean I'm Doing the opposite of per sturpy. Yep, yep. So be careful. Okay?

Okay. All right. Article 7 or 6, as the case may be. I kind of like to say funeral and burial instructions here. That would be my subtitle. So I go, article 7 or 6, funeral and burial instructions. Now, this can be actually a very emotional and kind of. I'll be so bold as to say, fun piece, because I once had a client that came in and said, and by everybody out there, you might be thinking about life insurance and IRAs and 401ks. We're going to come to that in a minute. But I like this section because I once had a client that said, bart, want you to be my executor. I want you to sell everything, pay off my debts, and I want you to buy a ticket to a cruise for the following. I think it was about 10 people. And he said, these 10 people, I want you to take them on a cruise, and I want you to have me cremated. And I want you to read the following statement as you drop my ashes off the back of the boat. And, I mean, he was very specific. It was between Cozumel and Cayman Islands on a Royal Caribbean cruise. I want you to drop my ashes off the bat. Kind of like the woman in Titanic. Just drop the diamond off the mat. Okay. I worked. I worked in Titanic here. I think I deserve some bonus points here. Okay.

Yeah. So appropriate for people dying, I guess.

Yeah, yeah. So you drop, drop, drop the ashes off the back of the boat. And then he had a really nice statement. He had written it all out. It's said, hey, everybody, I had a great life. Whether I died by accident or natural causes or this or that, I just want all you to know you're the people that affected me in my life. I love you. Don't be sad for me. Have a great cruise. Celebrate my life. I just got chills saying that. It was a really neat statement. So this is the place you say, this is how I want my funeral done. This is where I want to be buried, how I want to be buried. Here's any final statements. Tell everybody and say, you little jerk, I hated you. Or I love this person or hated this person. Yeah, you say whatever you want. They can't do anything.

Yeah, yeah. The guy reading say, don't shoot the messenger. I mean, he wanted you here for me to say, you suck and you get nothing.

Yeah.

By the way. All right, well, I think. Don't get. Hang up, hung up on this. Okay. Yeah. This is one thing people like. Well, I don't have a plot, you know, I don't know where I want to be buried. I don't know if I haven't thought about if I really want to be cremated or, you know, just say at least what you know now. And if you don't know, you don't need to say anything. Your executor is just going to figure it out. Now, if you have an inkling of where you're leaning, like, I want this type of church service, I want this person to speak. I want to be buried or cremated. Like just what you've thought through or can put to paper right now. Just write that down. You know, I would like to be cremated, period. I would like to be buried, period. Where you. Your ashes get put, where you get buried. You may know that and be okay with that. But if you don't, don't get hung up because you want to have it all figured out, because then you don't finish this thing.

Yeah, yeah, totally.

You can add that in later.

Okay, now I want to say this. And now I've got a number of little assets that I want to talk about here a minute. I want to talk about pets, guns. Where do you put this thing? I want to talk about your digital media, your assets in your house. But just for a moment. Let's wrap it up right now. This is what I'd say next. Then we're just talking about some unique provisions you might be able to pop in there. Are you okay with that, Matt?

Yeah.

Okay, here's what I'd say.

Quickly.

Yeah. At the end, I would say this. I declare that at the time of my s. At the time I signed this will, comma, I declare at the time of signing this will, comma, Mark Kohler was of sound mind and memory and under no undue duress or constraint, period. And this is required in a lot of states. Date and sign it. So for all those 25 states we listed off before you're done, date, sign it. Done. If you're not in one of those states, I think you're going to need two witnesses while you sign it. Look it up in your state, but you're done.

Yeah, just get your Herbie Hancock on that and you're good.

So you were supposed to set it up going, get your John Hancock on there. And I go, I thought it was Herbie Hancock. Tommy boy, Good call, man. Good call. Yeah, yeah, because that's right. Tommy's dad with the will reading. Oh, yeah, man.

Yeah, that was.

Was that Farrah Fawcett and Rob Lowe. Rob Lowe. Ooh, yeah, that was good. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Now you're done.

Except.

Yeah, okay, except there's some assets you need to know. Now, I'm serious. You can scan it or print, you know, do copies, old school, whatever. You know, get it to us. If we're your attorney, we'll at least throw it in your file, get it to your loved one. But make sure this isn't a place where someone knows who. Probably who you picked as the executor. Let them know. This is in my desk in my office at my home. You know, this is. You know, you tell them where it is and where it's located. Maybe it's in a safe or a safety deposit box. You're gonna have to let them know and give them instructions on how they're gonna get to it. If you're doing that. But don't make this thing be some, like, goose egg, you know, or Easter egg hunt for your family. They're like, did he have a will or not? You know?

Yeah, I usually the one that use foot in my. I like. You don't want it to be a goose egg. Maybe for some people, but you don't want it to be any. That was awesome.

Yeah.

But not an Easter egg.

Yeah, yeah.

What did they call it? Geo tracking. Is it geo tracking where they're like, okay, everybody, to find my will, you've got to go to these coordinates. Yeah, yeah, don't do that. Make it very easy for people to know where it's at and find it. Okay, now here's one of the recommendations I give at all my workshops. In fact, we raffled these off at my workshops before COVID in 2019 is a safe. You can get a fireproof document safe for sometimes under 50 bucks at Target or Walmart. The little more robust ones that I like that are fireproof and this. And that could be 70 or 80 bucks. But get one. Put it in a closet under the shoes. Put it somewhere. Make sure this person that you, your

executive, all burglars go to, look there.

Okay, don't do that.

Yeah, the closet under the shoes. I knew it would be here.

Okay, put it in the. Let's see in. Bernie, he put it and put it in the freezer. Put it in the freezer.

There you go. Okay, that's a good one. That might not be good for document preservation, though, but, you know, well, if

it's fireproof, it should be frozen proof.

I don't know. I don't know. Fire and frozen work the same way. I Don't know.

We are idiots.

Okay, now.

But get your safe put in there.

That was a goose egg.

No, no, that was good. I love it. We're riffing. We're riffing.

We're riffing.

Okay, you want to put in there your titles to certain assets you might have. Your passport, your will, your birth certificate, marriage certificates, anything of any value that needs to be documented. There are a few things you still need originals for people, so put those in. You're safe.

Now, again, if you listed an executor or some, maybe the backup, too. They need to know what's in there and they need to know the code.

Yes. Combination.

Combination.

We're so old school. You know what I was going to say earlier? Just write down your will and fax it to us. Yeah.

What's a fax? All right. I'm just happy to live in a world where there's more faxes.

Yeah, I was watching Die Hard, the original Die Hard with Bruce Willis. Just doing some work at the desk the other day. And when he's at the airport, they fax a document and I was like, oh, my gosh, I haven't seen that forever. Okay, for some of you young people, like, what's a fax? It's F A X. Look it up. You might be able to see it on Wikipedia. They probably have one at the museum. Natural History.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you might inherit one from your grandma or grandpa one day. In their handwritten will.

Yeah. I leave my grandson the facts. The Samsung 2000 and the Commodore 64 with two joysticks. Okay. All right. Now here's a few other items. If you have pets, you may want to add an article for pets. I want the following individual to receive my dog Fido, or my cat, Sam Duffy. What's Duffy? That's right. Cat's name Duffy. Guns. We are on the cusp of releasing our new gun trust this year. So for those that own guns, you want to have a trust. You can register guns more easily, quickly. It affects. I know some of you are very anti guns. Don't be offended. Some people love them. Some people love pets, some people hate pets. Don't judge. You might want to leave some money to charity. You might have an article of. I want money to go to charity, and I want to create a foundation. Take X dollars of my state and create a foundation for the purpose of X.

And you would have typically done that up in the specific bequest section, you know, or specific distribution section, where you'd say, this comes off the top. I want 100 grand to go to the, you know, Red Cross or whatever, to XYZ Church.

Now what's interesting. Okay, now here's the big issue. If your life is very simple and you don't have assets, really not any rental real estate or a home and no real children to speak of yet or whatever, a will may just be fine. You could be a young person just starting to build your wealth. Great. But I'm telling you, I implore of you people, if you have real estate, Personal Home Rentals, llc, a small business, children, second marriage, first marriage, whatever, even the single people, it can be more complicated. We don't know where stuff's going. You don't have some greedy spouse waiting there for you. You know, that knocked you off. Watch Dateline. So you know, every dateline. It's just. Yeah, it's getting old.

You know, it's like it really is.

Who did it? Who did it in about 30, it's the spouse. How hard is it? Anyway, get a trust, do the full on estate plan. Put it in your budget this year. This was a very crazy last 12 months that if the pandemic didn't make us think about our own mortality and possibly dying, it's a wake up call. So call us up, get in the full on estate plan and then you don't have it in court. Your will goes with it. We give you a will with your trust and it's all taken care of. Lots of conversations about your unique situations. But for some of you, this hopefully was great. Yeah. Yeah.

Now let's hit a few other things to know. I want to just mention there are beneficiary designations on certain assets that are gonna control. Even if you have a will.

Yes.

That you just signed that is enforceable. What you put on your beneficiary designation in your bank account, on your life insurance policy and on your retirement accounts, those three would be the main ones. That's who's getting it. So if you're like, well, I put, you know, I don't know who's on my life insurance policy. I don't know who's on my retirement account. I set up with my 401k 20 years ago. You know, go look, update that. Don't think that your will that you just did right now solves that. Yeah. This does not override a beneficiary designation on those three things.

Yeah, no, totally. And I'll add, this is where there are bombshells. There could be a mistress or a Mr. British is, you know, bridges over Madison county. You know the Mr. A Mr. It could have been, you know, Clint Eastwood.

Happy to say I don't know that movie.

Your wife never suckered you into bridges over Madison County?

Yeah, no, my ex wife. Nope. Thank you.

Dodged a bullet there. Yeah. No pun intended.

Yeah, yeah.

So, but this is where it is, you know, because you could put a beneficiary on your 401k, your IRA, your HSA retirement account of any sort, or life insurance and it doesn't matter what's in the will. So if you're going to drop those bombshells, that's where you do it. And here's another odd one because I'm out here in Idaho, farm country is it's kind of been this old school route of, oh, I'll just put one of the keys kids on the deed to the farm with rights of survivorship. So if I die, there's no probate. I don't even need to put it in the will. I'll just put their name on title. Oh my gosh, now you've got five other kids standing around going, did Johnny really just inherit the million dollar farm? That makes no cash, but it's worth a million dollars. And what do we get? You know, and old farmer thought, well, my oldest child gets the farm and no one else gets anything and I just put his name on title. May not be the best estate planning route to take. So, yeah, be careful trying to avoid a will by doing some crazy stuff. Yep.

Yeah, this is easy. You know, you could be done by now. I mean, all the little commentary and jokes along the way was plenty of time to think it all through. You are done.

Yep. Yeah.

For those of you in those states, and let me say this too, just, you know, this is not a substitute for legal advice. Your specific situation, you can do it. We're just trying to educate you and help you and give you the right way to do it. We're attorneys. We can't give you the advice for all 50 states. It's impossible to do that right now in a one format thing like this. But hopefully we gave you the groundwork. Mark laid out the states where you just need to have a signature, have your name, date and it be in your handwriting. If you're in those other states, remember, you'll need two witnesses or in sometimes a notary in order to validate this handwritten will that you've signed. Yeah, I love it.

Okay, everybody, thank you. We know this is a longer podcast than usual, but you just knocked out your will. Please take care of it. Treasure it. And you're going to need to upgrade it to a full estate plan, whether it's this year or next. Put it on your to do list, part of your 10 year plan. We're here for you no matter what state you're in. We've got 10 attorneys here that can help you out in one form or fashion on this process. Thanks, everybody.

Yeah, I was going to just say before you did the thanks, if I could. Okay, I'm just going to say, you know, you can now go bungee jumping, skydiving, yes, Climb Everest, any of those things because you did the responsible thing and got your will done.

Yeah, you're done. You can your life, you can live a reckless life this weekend and know that your affairs are in order. So you got carte blanche to do whatever you want. And next week, open forum, folks. So send in your questions by going to mainstreetbusiness.com, type on, post a question and easy schmeasy, there you go. And sign up for the newsletter if you have. Not yet. Lots of good articles and information every week in our newsletter. Make sure you open it on occasion or some email algorithm will kick you out. You won't get it anymore. You'll be like, where's the newsletter? Well, you never open it, so they figured you didn't want it. So make sure you open it every week just to see if there's any important notices. Thanks, everybody. See you next time.