Highlights from the Dave Ramsey Show

i know we need a will,not that we have alot of
assets but we have 2 children. Question is who
do we leave them to if my wife and I both die??
seems everyone considered has positives and
negitives. how do you decide?

Jennifer,
It seems to me that you and your husband need to come to terms on what the will is FOR. Basically, I think a will is for people to support people who NEED support. If you are currently paying for some part of his mother and sister's basic needs, fine; otherwise, they don't qualify for that yet. Parents must ensure their children have the resources to get a good start in their adult lives even if the parents die before the kids get there. (To me, that happens around age 26 or so, when most people have finished 4-6 years of post-high school education and have gotten settled into a solid job. Those who don't go to college or the military still need that kind of help into their mid-20s because they have to work up from entry-level wages that would hardly sustain them. Just my view, worth the paper it's written on!)

You might set up the will to have two options. Option 1 is in force until your children reach a designated age that you both agree on. Option 1 ensures that your estate fully supports your children as if neither of you had died. Include statements setting aside a few items that have special meaning (say, your husband wants his grandma's piano to go immediately to his sister whenever he dies). Then, Option 2 says "If the children are past X, then we want the estate distributed as follows..." and if he wants his mother and sister to get half, so be it. You should both be aware: if either of them is in a nursing home type of situation, it could be very messy for them to get significant assets after their own resources have been drained in our crazy system. Get with someone with lots of knowledge in both estate planning and the long-term care system, so that if you do die early, your will creates blessings for his mother and sister, rather than problems.

Do you have it witnessed by two witnesses and a self proving affidavit attached? This will make it much easier to probate. Keep the originals in a safe place and make sure that the executors know where it is.

When is it better to have a trust instead of
just a will like you advertise from
uslegalforms.com?

Dave,

I do not have alot of assets or liabilities but I want something in writing for what I do have in case something happens to me. Where should I go to get a will oniline?

My father is 81. I have 2 sisters. One has lost her home in a short sale and moved in with Dad. She borrowed from him until he had nothing left in order for her to pay for a house she could not afford. Now with her and her husband and two teenage kids living with him, one of whom is pregnant and her boyfriend often stays as well, she states that she has no intention of moving, that she wants to buy myself and my other sister out when Dad passes at two-thirds value less 'improvements' she has made. She has Power of Attorney. We are all three listed as Co-Executors of his Living Will. My other sister is in a panic over this and wants me to have Power of Attorney. I am fine with that, I just don't want to cause a feud, but at the same time, I am concerned that she will screw us and feud now or later really makes no difference except that it will prevent financial problems in the short term. A am expecially concerned that she will convince him to get loans, and or use the Power of Attorney to act on my fathers part and cause a financial ruin for him. What are your thoughts?

Leslie:
If you own a home, you need to probate the will as a Muniment of title. If you ever decide to sell the house, this will make the sale go smoother.
I had to probate my mom's will (she passed away
first and all went to Dad) AFTER my dad died to be able to sell the house.

My father-in-law passed away a year ago. He thankfully had a will, which was probated through the lawyer who drafted his will. Cost around 1500.00. House was put into the 3 daughters names, his will was set up to allow the one daughter who lived with him to contitune to stay in the house, she must pay all utilities, taxes, and upkeep. I was the excutor of the will and extemely grateful that he had the foresight to do a will. There was hard feelings with the will and without it the family fighting would have been quite worse. When people say that their family wouldn't fight don't believe it MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING.

Dave advertises living wills, which puzzles me because I thought he would know how living wills, in many states, = permission to kill. You can get a free will to live (which specifically protects your life when you cannot speak for yourself), at http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.html

You advertise the combo special at www.uslegalforms.com/dave
Is this sufficient in itself, or do I still need to go to an attorney/lawyer and get a $1000+ will?
My wife and my financial advisor are hounding me to get a will ASAP and I would rather spend $28 as opposed to $1000 - $3000 as quoted.

Please advise!

Hi,
My good friend recently passed away. His wife of 15 years is named as the beneficiary of his life insurance and 401-K but they never got around to updating his will. After his first divorce, he made up a simple will naming his two daughters to collect his assets upon death. Of course, this will was written up before he remarried. Does his daughters have a say in any of his assets (home, autos, etc.?). He and his wife live(d0 in New Jersey.

Please advise. Thank you so much!

My Mother has land that she wants to put into her 6 kids' names so in the event she has to go into a Nursing Home, within the next 5 years, they won't get it. Can she sell each of us our portion by self-financing the loan (approx. $10,000 each) and then "forgiving" or "gifting" that amount to each of us? That way no money changes hands as per her wishes. Its approximately 33.5 acres of farm land with her homestead on it. 5 acres first and foremost goes to one sibling, then the reaminding 28.5 acres is to be divided between all 6 kids. Thanks for the guidance.

I am 70 years old and have a small RLT into which oil royalties come on a monthly basis. I am concerrned about the current economic crisis and am concerned the dollar is going to be highly devalued with the current spending the government is doing. I don't want the money I leave to my children to be worth 10 cents on the dollar. Should I put these funds into gold? If so where do I purchase it? Coin? Do they actually send me the gold and where is a safe place to keep it?

Finally after years of putting it off we finally are doing a will. We're expecting our first kid so I thought now would be a good time.

As I was reading about WILLS, it seemes that it is difficult for some people in blended marriages (where both have kids from a previous marriage) to make a will.
When my husband and I married we knew that we both came in a packaged deal.
(I had 2 grown boys and 1 son still at home- my husband a daughter, who lived with her mother) When we got married they became "OUR" children. (Not "mine" and "yours" but "OURS") All 4 kids are grown now and no longer living at home, we have even been blessed with some grandkids! This is what we did: If I die first, everything goes to my Husband, when he dies everyting is split 4 ways to "our" kids, and vis versa should he die first. Sounds simple, we both worked hard to care for each other and our kids.