subject: Can I Have A Joint Will With My Spouse? [print this page] Can I Have A Joint Will With My Spouse? Can I Have A Joint Will With My Spouse?
A will is a legal declaration which enables you to decide who is to benefit of your property and possessions after your death. Through a will you can not only choose beneficiaries of your assets upon your death but also how your assets should be shared and the person that you want to be responsible for making that distribution.
Wills are the most traditional way for estate planning and it ensures that, upon your death, your estate is distributed to the beneficiaries you choose in accordance with your wishes. It also makes it easy for the heirs to inherit the estate and possession easy and is a good way to minimize the tax provisions.
Executions of wills thing to be considered, as if the will is not prepared or executed properly are considered invalid. There are several cases throughout the country every year where Wills are not accepted as valid because they were not signed and executed properly. Upon your death, a properly drafted and executed Will controls the disposition of all of the assets that you accumulate during your lifetime. There are different ways to be draft a will. One can even create a joint will. A joint will is mostly shared between spouses, which is created on the mutual consent on how the property or the assets will be distributed on the death of one or both the partners.
Joint wills are also called mirror wills which are most commonly shared between husband and wife or partners who wants to leave everything to each other, or to each other and their children. The will is prepared on the mutual agreement another plus point for the joint will is that it does not allow the surviving person, usually the spouse, from changing the will about the disposition of the property upon the death of the first person. However, Joint wills or mirror wills can sometimes be hurdle as it can tie up property for years until the second person dies, and the survivor is unable to revise the Will to reflect changed circumstances. The survivor is either stuck with the Will as written, or else will have to go through all kinds of legal hoops to try to invalidate the original contract as the situation of survivor might change over the years.
A joint will is although law bidding as it is not preferred due to the limitations and potential problems it brings along. It is better to consult an attorney and discuss the pros and cons before planning for the estate through joint wills.
