EVERYONE NEEDS A WILL
Some things are too dear to leave to chance — or the government
S the sage Ben Franklin once penned, “two things
in life are certain, death and taxes.” No one
likes to think about it, but we all will die one
day. And one thing most of us do care about
is who benefits from our hard work and will
receive our worldly possessions when we pass away.
That is why anyone over the age of 18 should have a last
will and testament.
Writing a will and a medical directive
is the last chance to direct the show; to
have things your way. One may think that
“everybody knows I want my money to go
to the orphanage.” But if it is not in writ-ing,
and notarized with reliable witnesses, a
person’s wishes might not be fulfilled.
Young adults especially tend to think
they have a lot of time
to get a will written, but
death is often untimely.
If you own a car, a little
Alaska Air stock purchased
by Grandma, or even sen-timental
family items like
Great Grandpa’s sword and
scabbard, and if it matters
who should receive any of
those things, a will should
be written stating who or
what organization should
inherit them.
In North Carolina, sev-eral
types of wills can be considered legal,
including oral, handwritten, and typed.
But although it may have appeared on
an episode of Matlock, video wills are
not valid in North Carolina nor in most
U.S. states. There are rare exceptions to
deathbed oral and video wills but there
are stringent requirements to validate them.
Typically, testators (those with a will) select someone
who can be trusted such as a family member, close friend,
or business associate to act as executor (one who distributes
your goods). For those who die intestate (without a will) in
North Carolina, the state acts as executor or administrator.
“North Carolina’s intestacy law gives your property to
your closest relatives, beginning with your spouse and
children. If you have neither a
spouse nor children, your grand-children
or your parents will get
your property. This list continues
with increasingly distant relatives,
including siblings, grandparents,
aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces,
and nephews,” states NOLO.com,
a do-it-yourself legal
document guide
published since 1971.
If a decedent did
not make a will and
has no living relatives,
the state escheats or
reverts property into
the state’s coffers.
That’s right, the state
can decide what to do
with your assets.
A signed hand-
written will, called
a holographic will,
is valid in North Carolina if the
entire document is in the hand-writing
of the testator. It does not
require witnesses or notarization
to be valid, but it is also not a very
secure way to have your wishes
honored.
BY CHRISTINE R . GONZALEZ A
Determining the type of
will, whether simple or
complex, and the use of a
living will can be different
for every person.
The more assets
involved, the more
complicated a will can
become, but it doesn’t
have to be difficult.
20 january 2022
WBM