Everyone wishes to protect their loved ones during their life and even after death. Every person who has acquired any assets during their lifetime and wishes to inherit it to their next generations has strong intentions to protect their loved ones financially and psychologically after their demise.
It is always better to put it down on papers about which person gets what percentage of the estate if you want your business to outlive and your family never lacks. A Last Will and Testament is a document through which your loved ones will get know that you cared for them even if you didn’t own a lot.
Besides dealing with the grief, most people worry about what will happen to the estate left behind by the demised. With minor kids, especially when one parent is unavailable or unable to take care of them, you would want them to stay safe and grow up knowing that you cared for their wellbeing.
Well, considering these thoughts, you need to think of taking a step to create a last will and testament. To have an idea into the correct direction, you can also download Last Will and Testament Michigan form.
A free last will and testament document under Michigan’s state law allow you to highlight and state the beneficiaries for your estate. The document also bestows you with the power to divide your estate among your loved ones. This document enables you to decide on donating a part of your estate as a gift to any charitable organization close to your heart. In the absence of a written last will, the state steps in and decides for you (sometimes without considering your wishes). Pets, friends, and organizations are low or almost non-existent on the list of persons to inherit your estate if the court of law decides.
Why is the last will needed even if you have a living will?
A last will is enforceable after death. The living will is enforceable while you are breathing, but you are unavailable to make significant decisions or mentally/physically incapacitated to perform required actions. There can be serious repercussions of not creating a will. Intestacy laws are invoked in the absence of last will and testament, and you are declared intestate. The state then takes over to divide your estate. Unless a person has descendants/children, the spouse gets the whole estate. But, if you have children, the spouse gets half the estate and kids are eligible for the rest. Under the state laws, children are eligible to inherit the whole estate in the absence of a spouse. Parents of the demised inherit rest of the estate when there is a spouse but no kids.
Legal requirements for a valid last will and testament
- In the document, the creator of the will is addressed as the testator, the person appointed to take care of the minors is guardian, and the person in charge of executing the will is the executor.
- For a last will to be valid, the testator must be 18 years or above, mentally sound, and act voluntarily to create a will.
- The testator must have the will in written and sign the document. In Michigan, the state only acknowledges a written will. It also acknowledges complete handwritten wills as long as the handwriting on the entire document (material, signature, and date) belongs to the testator.
- Two or more witnesses must sign the will after they witness and affirm that the testator has signed the will under free and voluntary conditions.
- The will and testament document must contain the list of beneficiaries.
- In case of a smaller estate, the executor can use an affidavit to sign off the estate to the named beneficiaries.
For more information on Michigan will forms, check here!
