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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- When was the last time you updated your will? Money Coach, Bill Stanley, was on the FOX21 Morning News Tuesday to give advice.
He said estate planning is an important part of financial planning. There are only two ways your property can be transferred after you die:
* Probate (which means "to prove") -- If you have a will, the court will distribute per your request. If you don't have a will, the court will distribute based on state law.
* Will substitute: joint ownership, payable on death provision (investment accounts), beneficiary (IRA), trusts, and life insurance.
Stanley said most everyone needs a will but most people don't have one.
If you have everything in joint ownership with your spouse and one of you should die, everything should be OK.
But what if you die together? The state will distribute your property, and appoint asset managers for your minor children and will determine who should take care of them.
Persons should review their wills every five years or when there is a major event, such as marriage, a child added to the family, or a divorce occurs.
"One reason people don't review and update their wills is because wills are drafted by lawyers and, as I found recently, 90 percent of the words are gobbledegook. It is very difficult to find the substance," says Stanley. He suggests writing a paragraph or two on what you want and then ask someone to check your will to see if it is the same.
"As I understand it, in Colorado you can write your own will as long as it is handwritten and witnessed by two people," says Stanley. "Do I recommend people write their own wills? No! But you have to ask yourself, is it better to hand write a will or is it better to have no will or a wrong will?"
