Michelle Ksidakis recently wrote an article on Placer County Online entitled “Do You Need a Will?” explaining why everyone should have a will prepared by an attorney. Interestingly, she noted that 65% of Americans today do not have a will. Who knows how many of the 35% of people who have a will have a legally sufficient will.
In her article, Michelle Ksidakis addresses some common misconceptions held by those who do not have a will. As an Alpharetta Estate Planning attorney, I have heard the same reasoning from many people.

• Myth 1: “My assets are so small that a will is not necessary.”

This reasoning has several flaws. First, most people do not have an accurate picture of their net worth and may have a higher net worth than they think. Second, a will is an opportunity to provide your family with direction on how to distribute items of sentimental value. Often, the division of these items causes the greatest family strife. Third, your will is your opportunity to select a guardian, trustee, and/or conservator for your minor children. Otherwise, the court will decide who will raise your children and who will hold the purse strings to their inheritance.

• Myth 2: “When I die, my spouse will get all of my assets.”

This is only sometimes the case. If an individual dies with no will in Georgia, and that individual leaves behind a spouse and children, the estate will be divided up between the spouse and the children. In that case, your spouse would not receive all of your assets.
There are other assets that will automatically pass to a designated individually outside of your will. For example, real property owned jointly with right of survivorship will pass to the joint owner automatically. The same goes for jointly owned bank accounts. Assets with beneficiary designations, such as IRAs and life insurance policies, will pass to the designated beneficiaries if they survive you. If your beneficiary does not survive you and you have no will, the courts will determine to whom your assets pass.

• Myth 3: “I can create a will on my own and save the legal costs.”

Each state has certain requirements that must be met in order for a will to be valid. These requirements are often absent from “do-it-yourself” wills. An invalid will or an improperly executed will gives those who may want the will invalidated an opportunity to contest the will. This probate litigation can quickly deplete the assets of your estate, leaving your loved ones with little to nothing once all matters are settled by the court. The cost of an attorney-prepared will is nominal compared with the cost of litigation.

• Myth 4: “I don’t want my final wishes to be set in stone. I’ll create a will later in my life.”

A change or amendment to a will is a simple, fast, and inexpensive process. As life-changing events occur, simply request that your Atlanta attorney prepare a codicil to your will to reflect these changes.
To ensure that your will is legally sufficient, consult with a capable Atlanta Estate Planning Lawyer to draft and refine your will.

A question we are often asked is whether someone should hire an attorney to prepare a will or whether a template document from a company like legal-zoom will suffice. There are a number of reasons why, as a general rule, it is best to have an attorney prepare a will.
One of the most important is that the document must be properly executed. Proper execution differs by state. In order to have a valid Will in Georgia, the document must be signed by the person creating the Will and 2 witnesses. Dying with an improperly executed will is the same thing as dying with no will at all.
This week alone we had 3 different families contact us about probating a parent’s will where the will did not contain the proper signatures and/or witnesses to the signing of the will. Practically speaking, that means no Georgia court will recognize any of the documents as a valid Georgia will. This often creates excess work, legal fees, and strife among the remaining family members.
Here are a few examples of an improperly executed Georgia Last Will and Testament:

• Will is not signed by the testator. The testator is the person creating the Will.
• The Will is not signed by 2 witnesses.
• There is a handwritten amendment to an existing will. Changes to a will (known as a “codicil”), must be executed with the same formalities as a regular Will.