Estates Made Easy: Leave an instruction manual for your property
My middle son is a budding collector. His closet is a treasure trove of trinkets. He has collected jewels he unearthed in the Glenview Community Church Nursery School's sand box, a kite he flew by himself to stunning heights last spring, and everything in between. When I think about how his collection will multiply, anxiety ensues - though it tells an organic story of his introspective, thoughtful and curious nature. So I've resigned myself to watching it grow. However, my resolution defies every fiber of my being. I am a minimalist of the highest order. Well, except when it comes to instruction manuals. I hoard instruction manuals.
I have the instruction manual for nearly every purchase of my adult life, beginning with the Sony clock radio purchased for freshman year at University of Illinois and growing by the day. When I sold my condo, I left the buyer every single solitary instruction manual for appliances, even those I replaced. I find comfort knowing there a piece of paper that could have a plan to help me answer a question about my property, even if I quickly pivot to the internet for a second opinion. Sometimes, comfort is king.
While I am not an evangelist for instruction manuals, I am for planning. People do not have to wait until they buy new things or are ready to sell, donate or gift property before they think about an instruction manual for their property. In fact, an instruction manual can be a huge help to family, friends, business partners when you are no longer here. How do you get an instruction manual for your property?
First, the instruction manual will be in the form of a will, living trust or both. What do you write in your will or trust?
Writing a will or trust is easy. Neither document has to be long or complicated. In fact, your will or trust will be a great resource if it does three things:
1. Identifies the property you own
2. Identifies who gets the property you own when you die
3. Identifies someone to make sure the property gets to the people you name
Your plan will be sterling if you work with an attorney to document it in a will or trust. An attorney can confirm that you are actually getting your property where you want it to go. An attorney can also make sure the will and trust complies with the law to avoid challenges and probate court.
In Caring.com's "2021 Wills and Estate Planning Study," data demonstrated that two out of every three people still do not have documents such as a will. caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-survey. This is a stunning statistic especially given the pandemic's grip on our daily lives in the last year.
Even though family, friends and business partners may not look for your will or trust until you die, take the time now to get it done so they know your plan. Think of the will or trust as the gift of comfort not only to those you love, but to yourself. Collectors and minimalists alike, everyone appreciates a gift.
• Corinne Cantwell Heggie is a principal of the Wochner Law Firm LLC in Northbrook. Corinne helps people avoid asset loss, court battles and taxes, with wills, trusts and powers of attorney. Corinne lives in Glenview with her husband and law partner where her family is active in sports, ministries that support women and children in crisis, and Boy Scouts.