Last Will and Testament

Oklahoma Last Will and Testament Attorney

While you may have told your family how you want your estate distributed upon your death, your wishes won't be legally enforceable unless written in a document. That document could be a last will and testament or a living trust.

At Postic & Bates, our estate planning lawyers create last wills and testaments for people in Oklahoma. We also create living trusts and other estate planning documents such as living wills and powers of attorney.

A last will and testament is important at all stages of life. One reason younger families create a will is to name a guardian for minor children. A guardian is the person who will take care of your children if you die before they are 18 years old. If you don't name a guardian, the court would have to decide who will raise your children. As people accumulate assets such as savings and home equity, they want to set up instructions as to how those assets will get distributed when they die, how they can be used before distribution, and at what ages to make distribution.

A disadvantage of a will is that is has to go through the probate process to be effective. If you do estate planning with a living trust, you can avoid the delay and expense of a probate proceeding. However, there are times when going through probate is an advantage and not a disadvantage.

If the property distribution is likely to be disputed or contested, the probate court will serve as a referee. If there are likely to be claims against the estate, the probate process will give your heirs an opportunity to address all of those claims at one time. In addition, the probate process provides creditors a limited amount of time to file claims. If claims are not filed during that time, they will be barred. For this reason, many people with high-liability professions such as doctors choose to have a will, even if they also keep some property in a living trust.

If You Die without a Will

If you die without a last will and testament, Oklahoma statutes will decide how your estate should be distributed in a process called intestate succession.

While your legal heirs will receive your property, you won't necessarily get the results that you want to have. For example, if you are married but own your house in your individual names, your spouse would only get half of your share of the property and your children will receive the other half.

Children who are heirs will receive property when they are of legal age, which in Oklahoma is age 18. However, this may not be what you want. We often ask our clients what they would have done if somebody gave them $100,000 at age 18. The answer prompts many of our clients to create a will or a trust, which allows them to draft instructions as to how and when they want assets distributed.

Intestate successions also require the personal representative (also called an executor or administrator of the estate) to post a bond equal to the cash of the estate. By creating a last will and testament or a trust, the requirement of bond is waived and the expenses of obtaining such a bond avoided.

For more information about wills, request our free Estate Planning Guide.

Free Consultation: Contact Oklahoma last will and testament attorney Martin Postic Jr. to arrange a free consultation.