ANNAPOLIS LAW

FORMS

WILL QUESTIONNAIRE

You Can Review The Following Questions For Information About Wills, Or Print It Out And Send It In

I.  Personal Information

Your Full Name                                       ________________________________________________

Address                                                   ________________________________________________

Telephone Number                                  ________________________________________________

Work Number                                        _________________________________________________

Your Spouse's Full Name                        _________________________________________________

The Names and Ages of Your Children   _________________________________________________

II. Personal Representative.

The persons, in order of preference, with addresses, whom you wish to handle the winding up of your estate. First choice will automatically be your spouse (and you in his/her will) but I need one or two other names after that.

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III. Guardian/Trustee.

If both of you should die before your children reach eighteen, a trust is necessary in the will. You will also need a guardian. Therefore, list two or three choices for the person or persons you wish to be the guardian for your children. In addition, you must appoint a trustee (please list two or three in the second column) to handle the trust for your children until each reaches eighteen. You can make it twenty-one, if you wish, or any other age. The powers in the trust will be broad. The trustee need not be a different person from the guardian or from the personal representatives if you want the same person to be all three. However, there are situations where you might not want a guardian to also be the one handling the funds in the trust for your children.

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IV. Who Gets Your Property?

Unless you otherwise indicate, your estate will go to your spouse, or if he/she shall have predeceased you, then equally to the children. If you want a child or someone else to get more than another, tell me what you want. You do not need to name any specific property.

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If both your spouse and your children predecease, or you all die together, and your children leave no children, name (with addresses) the people who you wish to get your property.

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V. Specific Bequests.

If you wish to leave a specific sum or item to a specific person or organization ($100 to a charity, my gold watch to my son Ted, etc.) list such specific bequests here. If there are more than three or four major items such as a detailed listing of who gets each piece of your spouse's jewelry), you can create a separate list and put it in the jewelry case or safe deposit box. The Personal Representative will honor it and you can change it more easily. To make it binding, the list would have to be in existence at the time of the will and referred to in the will.

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Normally, your will direct your Personal Representative to take care of burial costs, etc. If you wish to be cremated, or want something else done, please indicate your wishes here.

VII. Points to Remember

A. Only one original constitutes your will.
B. Any copies will be marked as such and are purely for information.
C. To make it valid, a will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who also sign. The rules are fairly simple, although too lengthy to put down here, but it is very important that the will be executed properly. One mistake and the entire will can become void and without effect.
D. The witnesses need not know the contents of the will, only that you signed it as your will and they witnessed
E. Put the will in a safe place (you can put it in the Register of Wills for a nominal fee) but make sure someone can find out where it is.
F. You can make a new will any time you want. A codicil to change a trustee, for example, may be easiest as long as it is witnessed and signed like a will.

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