Family Law

Why is a will important? If you pass away without a will, the state will make important family and financial decision for you that may be very different from what you want. That approach may be very different from what you want. Your children may not be taken care of the way they should be and a significant other who is not a spouse won’t get anything.

So who should have a will? Everyone.

When should you have a will drafted? If you do not already have a will you should have your initial one drafted as soon as possible, because you never know when you will need it. If you already have a will, it should be reviewed regularly. You should remember to revisit your will when a life changing event such as divorce or marriage, birth of a child, death of a person named in the will occurs or whenever you want to change how your property is distributed.

If you have children, consider who should be responsible for them in the event of your death, especially if you are married and your spouse also dies. You also need to decide whether your children or spouse will receive any financial inheritance in lump sum or will it be placed into a trust and dispersed in a predetermined manner. Do you really want to leave a teenage child all their money at once with no constraints?

Not only is it important to have a will dictating how your estate should be distributed, but you should also have a living will and a power of attorney. Should you become incapacitated for any reason, your family and doctors should be clear what your wishes are and what type of medical treatment you should receive. The only way to determine this if you are not able to speak for yourself is to determine this in advance by way of a living will.

An important question to ask when having your will drafted is whether there are tax consequences. Potentially there could be both federal and state tax considerations when having a will drafted. The tax ramifications will vary depending on the facts of each individual. So it is always best to ask the attorney drafting the will and not a friend or family member who may have a limited understanding of the ramifications about these details.

Passing away without a will can create an additional burden for your family in an already trying time that is why it is so important to complete one as soon as possible. Take the first steps today by calling an attorney for an appointment. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at mail@helmerlegal.com or call us at 1-877-Helmer1.

The impact is that individuals are now permitted to file for divorce without having to allege fault against their spouse or wait the 18-months time for a "no fault" separation. This law will remove some of the animosity associated with the divorce and help have the cause of action not interfere with other aspects of divorce such as custody, parenting time, alimony, child support and division of marital assets.

The law does not replace other grounds for divorce. But it is certainly a step in the right direction to end the unnecessary allegations made by one or both parties when filing for divorce.