Joint Wills: What Is It And Is It Right For You?

You’re a married couple. You do everything together. You share your finances and consider your property to belong to both of you. So why not do just one will for both of you? Why do both of you need your own wills?

You can actually do this—it’s called a joint will. But it may not be right for everyone, and there are legal implications to using a joint will.

Lack of Flexibility

One issue with joint wills, is the possibility that one spouse passes before the other one. With a joint will, the surviving spouse must agree to whatever was put into the joint will. In that way, a joint will can be thought of as a contractual agreement between the spouses.

This can create a lot of hardship for the surviving spouse, because often, when joint wills are made, parties don’t know what their lives may be like later on, when the other spouse passes. And because it’s a joint will, the surviving spouse can no longer edit, alter or amend the will to accommodate the surviving spouse’s possibly-now-different lifestyle.

If one spouse far outlives the other, that surviving spouse may have new family, or new children, or new assets. But none of these can be accounted for in the surviving spouse’s will, because the joint will made with the now deceased spouse, can not be altered.

This inability to modify, can lead to disputes after one spouse dies, and opens the door to challenges to the joint will by family who feel they have been unfairly left out of the will.

Note how different this is when both spouses have their own wills. Then, a patty can always alter his or her will.

Possibly Workarounds

You can have a joint will that allows for a surviving spouse to inherit whatever the deceased’s spouse has. Once the surviving spouse has inherited that property, the surviving spouse may be able to do what he or she wants with that property, in another will. But that’s only if that property has not already been spoken for, in the previously executed joint will.

And that doesn’t do much for the deceased’s surviving other family members, who now see the spouse getting everything in the joint will.

Benefits of a Joint Will

The one major benefit of a joint will is the obvious one—it’s easy, and allows a married couple to express their wishes together. Because both spouses are involved in the estate planning process, it may also be easier to make decisions about who will get what in the will.

If a spouse is a little uncertain about his or her security should the other spouse pass away, a joint will can allay those concerns, essentially locking in the surviving spouse’s right to recover whatever assets are listed in the will.

Is a joint will the right thing for you? Call the Torrance probate will and estate attorneys at Samuel Ford Law today.

Source:

westernsouthern.com/retirement/joint-will