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Make sure your will is valid while you’re still alive and well

On Behalf of | Mar 27, 2020 | Estate Litigation |

If you are starting to put together an estate plan and want to do your part in reducing the likelihood of estate litigation from your children or other family members, one good idea is to make sure you verify and validate your will in advance.

As you may know, a will needs to meet certain requirements before it will be binding and considered valid. If it doesn’t meet those requirements, then it might be challenged by a heir or beneficiary of your estate. Fortunately, you can take steps to make sure others listen to what you wanted to see happen in your will.

What do you need to do to make sure your will is valid?

When you create your will, it’s important to verify, in some way, that you are of sound mind. If you have a mental health condition or a problem with memory loss, for example, you may want to reach out to a medical provider to obtain a letter that states that you are still of sound mind at the date the will was made.

Another thing you will need to do is to sign your will. You need to do that in the presence of witnesses and have it notarized. You may wish to have a beneficiary or heir who will benefit from the estate present, but you will also need multiple witnesses to sign the will who have nothing to gain through witnessing you sign.

If you have questions about making sure your will is valid and upheld, your attorney can talk to you more about the steps you can take.