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Last Will and Testament

This is a basic will. W You may copy it into your word processor.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF

 

____________(1)____________

I, ________(2)__________, of _____________(3)_______________ being of sound and disposing mind, do hereby make, publish and declare the following to be my Last Will and Testament, revoking all previous will and codicils made by me.

I declare that I am married to _________(4)_________, to which I have referred to herein as my "spouse", and that I have __(5)__ children now living whose names and birth dates are: (List Children's Names and Birthdates)

I have _(6)_ deceased children.

All references to "my children" in this will include all of the above-named children and also any child hereafter born or adopted by me.

 

I

My spouse and I are executing wills at approximately the same time in which each is the primary beneficiary of the other. These wills are not being made because of any contractual agreement between us, and either will may at any time be revoked by either maker at the sole discretion thereof.

II

I appoint my spouse as personal representative of my will. If unable or unwilling to act, or to continue to act, as executor of my will, I then appoint ___________(7)___________ as personal representative of my will.

No bond or other security of any kind shall be required of any personal representative appointed in this will.

My personal representative, whether original, substitute or successor, shall hereafter also be referred to as my "executor".

III

I direct that my executor pay all of my funeral expenses, all state and federal estate, inheritance and succession taxes, administration costs and all of my debts subject to statute of

limitations, except mortgage notes secured by real estate, as soon as practical.

IV

I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of whatever kind and character, and wherever located, to my spouse, provided that my spouse survives me.

I make no provision for my children, knowing that, as their parent, my spouse will continue to be mindful of their needs and requirements.

V

If my spouse does not survive me, then I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of whatever kind and character, and wherever located, to my children per stirpes, and I direct that the share of any child of mine who shall have died leaving no issue shall be divided among my surviving children in equal shares per stirpes.

VI

My executor shall have the following additional powers with respect to my estate, to be exercised from time to time at my executor's discretion without further license or order of any

court.

Business Interest

To sell or otherwise liquidate, or to continue to operate my executor's discretion, any corporation, partnership or other business interest received by my estate.

Property of My Estate

To retain any and all property and securities of my estate in the name of my executor as executor or in my executor's own name.

Retention of Assets

To retain all property and securities of my estate for as long as my executor deems advisable.

Management of Estate

To invest, lease, rent, mortgage, insure, repair, improve or sell any and all real and personal property belong to my estate as my executor deems advisable.

Mortgages, Pledges and Deeds of Trust

To enforce any and all mortgages, pledges and deeds of trust held by my estate and to purchase at any sale thereunder any such real or personal property subject to any mortgage, pledge or deed of trust.

Litigation

To initiate or defend, at my executor's discretion, any litigation affecting my estate.

Attorneys, Advisors and Agents

To employ and to pay from my estate reasonable compensation to such attorneys, accountants, brokers, and investment, tax and other advisors as my executor shall deem advisable.

Adjustment of Claims

To submit to arbitration, to compromise or to release or otherwise adjust, with or without compensation, any and all claims affecting the trust estate.

Distribution of My Estate

In distributing my estate, to make said distribution wholly or partly in kind by transferring or allotting such real or personal property or undivided interest therein.

VII

If any person, whether or not related to me by blood or in any way, shall attempt, either directly or indirectly, to set aside the probate of my will or oppose any of the provisions hereof, and such person shall establish a right to any portion of my estate, then I give and bequeath the sum of one dollar ($1.00), only that, and no further interest whatever in my estate to such person.

VIII

In the event that any of my property, or all of it, at the time of my death is community property under the laws of any jurisdiction, then my will shall be construed as referring only to

my community-property interest therein.

IX

If any portion of my will shall be held illegal, invalid or otherwise inoperative, it is my intention that all of the other provisions hereof shall continue to be fully effective and operative insofar as is possible and reasonable.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and seal this _(8)_ day of ______(9)_______, 19_(10)_.

____________(11)_______________

Signed, sealed, published and declared to be the Last Will and Testament by ______(12)________ in the presence of all of us, who, in the presence and at the request, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses:

WITNESS NAMES AND SIGNATURES WITNESS ADDRESS

___________(13)_____________ ___________(14)__________

Name:

___________(13)_____________ ___________(14)__________

Name:

___________(13)_____________ ___________(14)__________

 

.

 

NOTICE

The information in this document is designed to provide an outline that you can follow when formulating business or personal plans. Due to the variances of many local, city, county and state laws, we recommend that you seek professional legal counseling before entering into any contract or agreement.

 

 

Legal Resources

 

Legal (General)

Affidavits

Business Law

Commercial Code

Contracts

Ethics

Incorporation

Legal Forms

Negotiating

Taxes

Teamwork

Wills

Advice on working with an attorney

Many people assume an attorney is all-powerful or can work some kind of legal magic, just by dint of being an attorney. The reality is quite different. Look in your own line of work, and what do you see? People of differing abilities and work ethics, for one thing. And how many problems come up that even your best people have difficulty solving? How many projects go bad?

An attorney is just another person working in a specific field. It happens to be law. That is, some area of law. An attorney who doesn't have significant experience and/or training in the area of law that concerns you probably isn't going to do as well as one who does. There are so many "gotchas" in law, it borders on the absurd.

Your attorney isn't your buddy. Your attorney is a contractor you pay, and pay well. Usually by the hour. Don't waste your attorney's time with complaining or by seeking explanations of things you can look up on your own.

Your attorney's success is contingent upon such factors as:

  • Your accuracy. Don't guess at the answers your attorney needs. Look things up. If your attorney asks how much you made last year, for example, produce your tax return rather than flip a number off the top of your head.
  • How honest you are. Lying to your attorney is generally a dumb approach. It can get your attorney into trouble and is likely to undermine your case.
  • How open you are. Hiding information from your attorney, even if you think it's irrelevant can easily result in a courtroom surprise that destroys any chance of winning your case.
  • Your ability to stay out of trouble. Getting arrested, even on some unrelated charge, while your case is pending makes extra trouble for your attorney to handle.
  • How well you articulate your side of the story. You don't need to be a polished speaker, but you do need to be concise and direct.

Don't:

  • Make statements about the other person's motivations. Your attorney can't prove such allegations, so they are worthless.
  • Produce forged documentation for your attorney to use. This creates a landmine that can not only blow up your case, but result in (further) criminal charges.
  • Do or say anything that wastes your attorney's time.
  • Yell at your attorney.
  • Make disparaging remarks about the other side's attorney or anyone else involved in the case.
  • Call your attorney for daily progress reports. This just wastes time.
  • Text your attorney, unless told this is OK.
  • Send your attorney long e-mails.
  • Send your attorney paper, unless told this is preferable. Paper must be scanned and then shredded, creating extra work.

Do:

  • Outline what you think the other person's viewpoint is. This will help you understand the whole case, and will show your attorney you seek this understanding.
  • Provide any evidence you can locate or produce. This includes e-mails, photos, and receipts. Ask your attorney what evidence will help your case, and see about getting it.
  • Think about how you can save your attorney time. Offer to do research, for example. "How about if I check that out for you?" Keep any reports to the attorney accurate and objective.
  •  Treat your attorney with respect at all times.
  • Behave in a professional manner. How you behave will affect how others perceive you, and that does affect the outcome of your case.
  • If you have the OK to text your attorney, do this only rarely and when there is a good reason for it.
  • E-mail your attorney with status updates or requests for information.
  • Keep e-mail messages brief and limited to that which is most important and/or urgent.
  • Convert paper to PDF and e-mail necessary documents to your attorney.

Need to do legal research? We have the perfect tool:

WizCom InfoScan TS Elite Scanning Pen  

The WizCom Infoscan Elite Scanning Pen is perfect for taking notes in a law library or other information repository.

Instead of feeding coins to a copy machine, dragging your laptop around, or going nuts trying to key in your hastily-scrawled hand-written copy of source material, just use this note-taking pen to pick up the material directly and store it in the pen. Then transfer to your PC later when you're back at home base.

The Infoscan TS Elite scanning pen makes digital note-taking as easy as using a standard highlighter.

 

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