Wills

If you have children who would need a guardian if you died, a will is a good way to plan for the guardianship of them.

In addition, a will is particularly useful if you have assets which will go into your estate upon your death. If all of your assets pass to other people when you die and you do not anticipate coming into other property of value, then you might not need a will.

Sometimes people are told that they should do a trust rather than a will because going through probate is expensive and time consuming. Despite what you may have heard, it is not always expensive or time-consuming to go through probate in Vermont.

Consult with a lawyer if you have any questions about whether you should have a will or how your property would be distributed upon your death.

Examples of how property can be distributed at the time of your death without going through probate court:

Even if there is a will, all assets in the table above will be distributed according to the table, and not according to the will. 

You must be over age 18 and must be of sound mind when you sign a will. Being “of sound mind” means that you know what property you own, who it would normally go to (even if you do not want it to go to them), and that you have a plan for how you want it distributed. 

You must sign the will in front of two witnesses who must watch you and each other sign the document.  A person who will get something under your will cannot be a witness.

When you sign a will, you are “executing” a will.

You do not need a lawyer to draft your will, but it is a good idea to have a lawyer do it. While there are many forms available on the internet, they are not all valid or good. Many are not written with Vermont laws in mind.

Because your will becomes final at your death, you will not have a chance to “fix” it or to change it if you have made a mistake. A lawyer can write the will taking into account your unique needs. A lawyer will make suggestions about what to include in your will.

Anybody can “file a claim against your estate.” That means they want to inherit some of your assets after you die. Just because someone has filed a claim does not necessarily mean that he or she will win. A properly written will can reduce their chances of getting money or property you intended to go to some else.

You can “revoke” (cancel) your will by:

• executing a new will and signing it according to the law where you sign it
• signing a document revoking it in the presence of two witnesses, or
• physically destroying the will with the intention of revoking it.

You can change your will by writing a new will, or by executing a “codicil.” A codicil is a document that changes a part of your will. The codicil must be signed in accordance with the same rules for signing a will. (See “How Do I Make a Will?” above.)