At Christenson & Fiederlein, PC as a piece of your estate planning, we will discuss the necessity of a Wills in the estate planning process.  

Depending on your assets and long term goals, we may prepare a simple Will, a joint trust or separate trusts.  A Will is a legal instrument which a person signs indicating how his or her estate is to be distributed upon death. It also designates the individual(s) who is/are to be put in charge of handling the estate.  A Will does not avoid probate court or probate court fees, but is a way of distributing your probate assets at death to the beneficiaries that you name in your Will and by the person you appoint to handle your estate (i.e. your Personal Representative or  executor).  Having a Will avoids the state statutory scheme call intestacy (dying without a will).  For example a husband and wife dies with children, husband is entitled to the first $160,000.00 (may also include household and other exempt assets) and the rest of the estate would be split between the husband and the children.  Most of the time, this is not what a husband and wife expect upon death.  Therefore, a Will or other estate plan is necessary. 

Please feel free to call Christenson & Fiederlein, PC for a free consultation and download our Estate Planning Questionaire (PDF) so that your consultation is more effective.