Highland Falls, NY Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If she is a senior citizen there are groups that do them for free. In Las Vegas, she may contact the Southern Nevada Senior Law Program. They will prepare her simple Will at no charge. She should also execute powers of attorney for health care and financial matters. Most attorneys charge a few hundred dollars to complete a basic estate plan. There are risks associated with using a form without proper legal advice. Again she may qualify for free assistance though a senior program.

You may leave whatever you wish to your children. Your spouse, however, has the right to elected to take a share in your estate without regard to your will. If you have no assets or don't have many this won't mean much, but the spouse does have the right of election to take against your estate - you cannot disinherit a spouse.

You need a will, and probably a power of attorney and other estate planning documents. You need to decide how you want your assets and belongings to be distributed when you are gone and a last will and testament will ensure that happens. In the absence of a will, your partner will get nothing unless you have joint bank accounts or real estate held as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. In that case the share of the person who passes away first goes to the other joint tenant. You also need to make decisions about who you want to make health care and financial decisions for you if you cannot do so- your partner or your child. A power of attorney appoints a person (or persons) to make financial decisions and other non-medical decisions and tasks for you and is only valid while you are alive. A health care proxy appoints another person to make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to do so. A living will is a useful document to give instructions to your health care proxy, or directly to a doctor or hospital if you are unable to do so.  If you married, whether or not you have a will, your spouse is entitled to the first $50,000 or one-third of your net assets, unless you sign a pre-nuptial agreement that specifies otherwise, as well as a car up to $25,000 in value, cash up to $20,000, personal belongings and clothing up to $20,000 in value, and books, records, photos up to $2,500 in value.