Below you will find information on the use of a will. Honestly feel free to skip this entire post, as the use of a will serves almost no purpose in my opinion.
But why does everyone have a will then? Simply put, the vast majority (99%) of people dont know how to protect their assets. They get a will, follow the heard, maintain status quo, and get hit with estate taxes and probate as does everyone else. My goal is for you to break away from the heard, learn what really works, and then put these strategies into place.
According to the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person regulates the rights of others over his or her property or family after death.
Any person over the age of 18 (in the USA) can draft their own will without the aid of an attorney. Additional requirements may vary, depending on the jurisdiction, but every will must contain the following:
- The testator must clearly identify himself or herself as the maker of the will, and that a will is being made; this is commonly called “publication” of the will, and is typically satisfied by the words “last will and testament” on the face of the document.
- The testator must declare that he or she revokes all previously-made wills. Otherwise, a subsequently made will revokes earlier wills only to the extent that they are inconsistent. However, if a subsequent will is completely inconsistent with an earlier one, that earlier will be considered completely revoked by implication.
- The testator must demonstrate that he or she has the capacity to dispose of his or her property, and does so freely and willingly.
- The testator must sign and date the will, usually in the presence of at least two disinterested witnesses (persons who are not beneficiaries). In some jurisdictions, for example Kentucky, the spouse of a beneficiary is also considered an interested witness. In the USA, Pennsylvania is the only state which does not require the signing of the will to be witnessed. There may be extra witnesses, these are called “supernumary” witnesses, if there is a question as to an interested-party conflict. In a growing number of states, an interested party is only an improper witness as to the clauses that benefit him or her.
- The testator’s signature must be placed at the end of the will. If this is not observed, any text following the signature will be ignored, or the entire will may be invalidated if what comes after the signature is so material that ignoring it would defeat the testator’s intentions.
So everything seems nice an simple right? No laywer required, no great expense, go ahead and make yourself a will today! Feel free to do this, but know it will do very little to protect your assets. True a will can direct certain things to certain people, but whether they get it is a whole other story.
To continue: After the testator has died, a probate (this word makes me shudder, on average this simple legal process will cost 30% of the value of any estate, before estate taxes) proceeding may be initiated in court to determine the validity of the will or wills that the testator may have created, i.e., which will satisfy the legal requirements, and to appoint an executor. If the will is ruled invalid in probate, then inheritance will occur under the laws of intestacy as if a will were never drafted. Often there is a time limit, usually 30 days, within which a will must be admitted to probate. Only an original will can be admitted to probate in the vast majority of jurisdictions — even the most accurate photocopy will not suffice.
So there you have the basics on the Will. Lets go back to the initial definition I used. “According to the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person regulates the rights of others over his or her property or family after death.”
Take a look at my previous posts here, what have I made very clear about true asset protection? First of all, “you” don’t want any property to pass on in a will. When they do an asset check to see what you as a person owned, how about all they find is a personal checking account with $25 in it. You think any lawyer or court is going to bother with probate for this? They wont…
So where are all your assets then? Your home, cars, money, etc… They are safely stored in various other structures (also not owned by you). Keep in mind if you owned these structures, they would be passed along and taxed as well.
I’ll continue working my way through the asset protection structures so you can see what truly works. I know it seems confusing that you don’t own anything ( it was to me as well), but it will make sense soon.
Quick example: A Nevada corporation can own real estate in any other state. The shareholders in this corporation can be anyone. Another corporation, an LLC, a domestic or offshore trust, a foreign person, or they can be made out the the bearer, which means whoever holds the stock certificates in hand owns the corporation. If your home is owned by a properly structured NV Corporation, the owner of the home will never die, as a result the property never changes hands, and since you dont own it nor any of the shares in the Corporation, the home will never be considered part of your estate.
If you have a million dollar home, this strategy alone case save you over $100k in estate taxes, as the value of the home will not be included in the estate. The cost of placing your home in this structure is a very very tiny percentage of that savings.
The wealthy have been using this trick for generations. The truly rich and knowledgeable, they hardly pay a cent in estate taxes, and they never go to probate.
For specific questions/inquiries please email me at [tomothy at hushmail dot com]
