Content Overview 
- Summary
- What To Think About If You Want To Leave People Specific Assets
- Information to Gather To Prepare For Writing A Will
- How To Decide Who Your Beneficiaries Will Be And What Each Will Receive
- How To Choose A Personal Representative/Executor/Personal Administrator
- A Few Things To Think About If You Have Minor Children
- What To Do If You Want Your Heirs To Divide Your Personal Property Among Themselves
- What To Consider If You Are Leaving Property To Charity
- What To Consider If You Want to Disinherit A Spouse Or Child
- Considerations If You Are In A Second Marriage
- What To Do If Your Estate Is Larger Than The Estate Tax Exemption.
How To Prepare To Write A Will
What To Think About If You Want To Leave People Specific Assets
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Think about each gift carefully. Keep in mind that once an asset belongs to a person, he or she can do anything she or he wants with it.
If any of the assets are used as collateral to repay a debt (such as a house which has a mortgage on it, or furniture which is being purchased on an installment plan), decide whether you want your estate to pay off the debt so the person gets the asset free and clear, or the person receives the property subject to the debt . Unless you state to the contrary, the asset will pass to your heir subject to the debt. If you want the asset to pass without debt, think about where the money will come from to repay the debt.
If you want to leave specific items that are not valuable in the financial sense to different people (such as a pocket watch that you inherited from your grandfather or your Aunt Gladys' china), consider the following alternatives:
- Make those bequests in your will to a person you trust. In a letter that you sign, ask that person to give each asset to a specifcally named person. For example, you have a pocket watch that you inherited from your grandfather or your Aunt Gladys' cast iron pans. Give all such property to XYZ. In a letter addressed to XYZ, tell him or her what you want done with each item. (You only have to date and sign the letter. It does not need to be witnessed or notarized.)
- NOTE:
- If the assets you are asking a person to give to another person are worth more than the amount allowed during the current year, the person making the gift will have to consider paying a gift tax. To learn more, see Gift Taxes.
- Let the person to whom you are leaving the group of assets know what you are doing to be sure she or he agrees to the plan.
- In some states, if the Will states that there is a letter which describes what happens to personal property, the letter can be binding if it is incorporated into the will by mentioning it in the Will.
- Put a colored or other sticker under each of your personal possessions with the name of the person to whom you want to leave objects. If an item has more than one sticker, let the people know they will have to negotiate. Don't use stickers that can easily fall off or be removed, such as post-it's.
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