Your Last Will & TestamentThe Key Document to Estate Planning

No matter your financial or family situation, a last will & testament affords you and those you care about a degree of certainty and comfort in a time of grief. Your will tells the probate court exactly how you want your assets to be distributed among your beneficiaries. For example, if you have assets that you wish to pass to your minor children, your will can create a trust that comes into being after you pass away to hold specific property for your children until they reach a certain age.

If you do not have a will, the Texas Probate Code will control how your property is distributed. It's quite likely that the distribution called for by the Probate Code may not align with your wishes. For example, many people want their surviving spouse to take everything. However, if you and your spouse do not have children, and you do not have a will stating that everything should go to your spouse, then your brothers and sisters and their children will take part of your property.

There are many challenging questions and considerations involved in developing an estate plan that protects those you care about, many depending on your wishes. Estate law attorneys at Jim Ross & Associates help our clients to develop legally valid wills. To schedule a Free Consultation call our office at at 817.529.1300.

Being of Sound MindWhat is a Valid Will Under Texas Law?

Establishing a will which is valid under Texas law, can prevent disputes and unnecessary conflict between your relatives and loved ones during the probate process. If your will contradicts itself, seems unclear, or does not cover specific pieces of your estate, its validity may be called into question during the probate process. Turning to an experienced estate law attorney to draft your will with you, can help bring validity and credibility to your wishes.

Most important to the validity of a will, is that you must have "testamentary capacity." This means that you must be at least 18 years old, know what you own, and understand that you are making a will. In more common words, you must be of "sound mind." Furthermore, you must sign the will in the presence of at least two witnesses who are not beneficiaries of the will. The two disinterested witnesses must also sign the will.

In Texas, it is also a good idea to attach a "self-proving affidavit" to the will. This affidavit is signed by the same two witnesses who signed the will and states that the witnesses attest that the person making the will had testamentary capacity as described above. The purpose of the self-proving affidavit is to avoid having to call the witnesses into probate court later to testify that the will is valid. This reduces the cost and inconvenience of probate considerably.

Jim Ross & Associates can take these steps and more to ensure your wishes are clearly documented in a legally sound last will and testament.