How to Make a Will
One of the most common questions we get at our Wills Workshops is: How do I make a Will? A Will, or Last Will and Testament, is a legal document that explains your final post-death wishes for your assets and debts, and appoints your executor (also called a Personal Representative), a guardian for minor children, and the trustee of any trusts in your Will. A Will is used by your executor after your death and must be filed with the Superior Court Clerk at that time.
To make a Will, follow these steps:
gather information
What assets do you have, and how are they titled or owned? Are you the sole owner or is the asset jointly owned with a spouse, adult child, or someone else? Make a list of your financial accounts, and note whether beneficiaries are designated on each account.
Designated beneficiaries receive the account (or a portion of it) directly, and the account or funds will not be subject to your Will or probate.
Make a list of your debts and running bills. What debts and bills will need to be paid after you die? Does anyone owe you payback on a loan? What will happen with that loan after your death—should it be paid back to your estate, or would you like to forgive the loan?
Download our estate planning guide for help with some of these key decisions. You can also email us for a copy of our estate planning worksheet, available in pdf format or as a fillable web form.
Choose the right people to carry out your Will
Choose your executor, or Personal Representative. Most married people choose their spouse in this role, especially if the husband or wife will inherit all or most of the assets. In any event, the executor should be someone who is organized, has good judgment, and will faithfully carry out your wishes. It could be a family member, friend, or even a fiduciary company such as WE Trust Company or Ohana Fiduciary Corporation. It is ideal to choose someone who lives in your state, since they will need to handle matters at your home, such as reviewing your paperwork and holding an estate sale. That said, your executor can live out of state, or may even live in another country, if they are willing to travel to your locale to administer the estate.
If you have children who are under eighteen years old, choose a legal guardian for them. The children will live with the legal guardian, who will be responsible for their day-to-day care and upbringing. Also think about an alternate guardian, in case your first-choice guardian is not able to serve in that role if the time comes.
If you work with an estate attorney on your Will, they may suggest that you have one or more trusts set up in your Will (these are called testamentary trusts). It can be good to choose a trustee, in case you set up a trust. The trustee is the person or fiduciary organization that manages the assets in your trust.
Decide on the distribution of your assets
After your executor uses estate assets to pay the debts you incurred during your lifetime, expenses of any final illness and for final disposition of your remains, and administrative expenses of your estate (taxes, attorney fees, CPA fees, etc.), the executor will distribute any remaining assets according to the instructions in your Will.
Who should receive your assets? You can give tangible items to individuals through a simple gift list, but in addition to that, would you like to leave any gifts of cash or other assets to any person, organization, or for a pet’s care? After any gifts like that are fulfilled, who should get the rest of your estate? You can give it all to one person or organization, or you can divide up the estate to be distributed to multiple beneficiaries by percentages or dollar amounts.
Draft the Will
Creating or drafting the Will means to put your wishes in writing. An estate attorney will carefully craft the language of your Will to carry out your wishes in a straightforward, clear way, being mindful to avoid the pitfalls that could result in a Will contest (a lawsuit about your Will). We make your instructions direct, complete, defined, and simple to carry out.
A well written Will provides for common developments that may happen throughout your life, such as the eventual unavailability of your executor, the birth or death of a child or other family member, a change in the taxability of your estate, a move to another state, or other changes. Also, you want to be explicit if you want to disinherit someone, whether your executor should be compensated, designating a pet caretaker, and so forth.
Finalize the Will
When your Will perfectly states your wishes, prepare for signing it by printing the Will. In Washington, you must sign your Will in the presence of two witnesses who meet the requirements of RCW 11.12.020. Although not a requirement, you may choose to have a notary present, who will verify the identities of your witnesses and will notarize their signatures. After all pertinent pages have been signed, you may wish to make a copy of the signed Will before stapling or binding the pages together as a complete original.
Keep your original Will in a safe place
Keep your Will in a safe place at your home or another place where you can easily access it but where it is unlikely to get damaged or lost. Some attorney offices store your original Will for a fee; Jordan Law Firm does not store original Wills on-site. Some people opt to keep their Will in their safe deposit box; however, we recommend against that because the Will is not easily accessible. County Clerks in Washington have Will repositories, where you can deposit your original Will for a small fee. Keeping your Will at the Clerk’s office is not usually recommended unless you are afraid you might lose the Will, or there is a risk someone or something could damage it.
Tell your executor where you keep the Will
Don’t forget to tell your executor that your Will is complete and let them know where you store it. Some people choose to give a copy of their Will to the executor. If you died, your executor must file the original Will with the County Clerk. Throughout the estate process, the executor can get legal advice from a trust and estate lawyer for next steps in administering the estate.
Review your Will periodically
It’s a good idea to review your Will periodically (we suggest at least every two years) to be sure it still fits your circumstances. Wills can be updated at any time so long as the person making the Will can understand the choices they are making and are doing so voluntarily.