The Dreaded Topic of Wills, Trusts, and Legal Guardians
Wills, Trusts, and Legal Guardians? Oh, boy! Ok, so it’s an obvious statement to make that no one ever wants to think about what’ll happen to them when they die. Death is the least sexy topic for those of us that aren’t Jeffrey Dahmer (haha...couldn’t help myself).
Ok, now that we’ve broken the ice, let’s just say it… We will all die. It sucks, but it’s part of the human experience. We live in a modern world and we accumulate belongings. Some of monetary value, and some sentimental. We all have different spiritual or religious beliefs too, and all of this requires planning that we won’t be around to tell people about. We may also change our mind over time and have forgotten all the conversations that made a meaningful impact on others. That can cause debate and tensions in an already difficult time.
It’s so difficult to lose anyone you love, and the grief of having to go through that time and having to handle an estate or belongings without any guidance can cause frustrations and tensions between families and friends. This is especially true if someone passes away too young. It’s best to try to prevent tensions as much as possible. Wills, Trusts, and Legal Guardians being organized in advanced helps with that.
If you have children, you absolutely need a will and an assigned legal guardian. If you own property, you need a will. If you own a car, you need a will. If you have any money at all, you need a will. Pretty much, if you breathe and have a pulse, you need a will…. Because someday those functions will stop.
My Mom is only eighteen years older than me, and I’ll never forget helping her plan her 25 year class reunion. All of the people in her class were 42-43 years old, and I was shocked at how many people on the list were labeled “deceased.” It was a number that was higher than I expected. I’m not saying this to scare everyone into a grave, but to shed light onto the possibility of needing a will, trust, or legal guardian at a younger age than we may expect.
My husband Matt and I own a property in Berkeley, have 401k accounts and a little in savings. We also have a lovely little dog. We started to realize that we needed to have a will and trust in place for estate planning in case one or both of us are no longer here.
To be candid, we do think we’re too young to sink a lot of money into estate planning since the odds are still in our favor. Also, with my experience in HR, I’ve realized that things that’ve been crafted a million times over usually are templated well. I started looking into online legal services that offer wills, trusts, and legal guardianships (yes, even for a pup) and I came across Trust and Will among the many options.
What I like about Trust and Will is:
They have a good UI on their website and I can navigate what I need well. My experience working at frog Design has made me appreciate this.
They outline the differences between a will, trust, and legal guardian plan well and include an outlined grid that explains what’s included with each.
The price is right on Trust & Will. It’s $89 for a will, and only $70 more to add a spouse’s will. This makes the total $159 for the legal documents that match our needs with the laws of our state etc. It is on a subscription model though if you want updated documents when laws change or your needs change. I’m sure you can opt out of this, but it’s only $12 a year and the first year is included in the initial price.
The online reviews looked great. Everywhere I looked, Trust and Will was rated 4.0 to 4.8 stars out of 5.0.
Trust and Will includes a quiz if you’re not sure what you need… a will, a trust, a legal guardian doc, or a combination of a couple or all three.
Matt and I just did a will for now, and we will opt into the subscription model for the sign up. It’s funny the things you neglect in your 20’s and you start to do in your 30’s and 40’s. I hope this topic wasn’t too painful for you, and you start your estate planning, even if you’re just starting to build your estate.
