Estate & Trust Services

Will Questionnaire

A simple Will can ensure a distribution plan for your assets upon your death.  This document is provided when you designate a 10% gift to the AG ministry of your choice. This is a form only program that must be completed by the individual and requires review by your third-party attorney.

To begin, please call 866.621.1786 or download a free will planning packet.

Download the Free Will Planning Packet

 

FAQs

Q: What happens when a person dies without a valid will?

A: Every state legislature has written laws that create a “state-written will” for those who haven’t made their own. The laws vary from state to state, but you can be sure that they probably don’t have your particular wishes in mind. Without a will in place, your jointly owned items will pass to the joint owner and beneficiary-designated assets and plans will pass to the beneficiaries, but most other assets will be distributed in accordance with your “state-written will” in accordance with your state’s probate code.

 

Q: What is probate?

A: Probate is the name of a section of state statutes and a division of the state courts that deal with the property of an individual who can no longer handle property due to death or incapacity. In the event property remains titled in your name when you die with no other owners and no beneficiary designations of any kind in place, the probate system works to retitle those assets into the name of a new owner. Direction as to whom to transfer those assets is determined by following the “state-written will” written in the state statutes or, if one exists, by following the terms of a valid Last Will & Testament.

 

Q: Will my assets left through a Last Will & Testament avoid probate?

A: No. A Last Will & Testament is a document that acts as personal letter of intent to your local probate court as to how you would like to dispose of your property after you die. It operates within the probate system to provide direction instead of the court relying on the “state-written will” created by your state legislature.

 

Q: Should both husband and wife have wills?

A: Yes. It’s important that each has a will, even when the two wills may be essentially the same.