The common practice is to designate specific items, such as automobiles, jewelry or furniture, by a “Tangible Personal Property List,” which is a separate list that is referenced in your Will (which we will also provide for you). You do not have to have your personal property list ready at this time. Accordingly, the beneficiaries listed below are your “Residual Beneficiaries,” which generally just means the beneficiaries who split the rest of your property after the specific gifts listed on the Tangible Personal Property List are made (which would be all of your property if you do not make such a list).
If tax planning is not an issue for you, I assume you want to leave all of your property to the surviving spouse (please let me know if this is not the case).
NOTE: I generally recommend tax planning to all estates approaching or in excess of $2,000,000. If you think you need tax planning in your Wills, I would be happy to discuss these concepts in greater detail.
I assume that at the death of the second spouse, you wish your property to pass to your children in equal shares. If a child is not living at your death, that child’s share will pass to his or her living children (your grandchildren), if any. If the deceased child is not survived by any children, his or her share will be split amongst the other living children of yours. If this is NOT what you intend, please provide separate notes explaining your intentions.
Please also note that I will draft your Wills so that, if property passes to children or grandchildren of yours, such shares will be held in trust if any such child or grandchild is under the age of 35. Trust property will be distributed one-third at age 25, one-half of the remainder at age 30, and the remaining amount at age 35. Please let me know if you would rather have such share distributed to any such beneficiary at a younger (18, 21, etc.) or older (40, 45, etc.) age. Property held “in trust” generally means a trustee makes decisions regarding the amounts distributed to the trust beneficiary (although the trustee is required to follow the terms of the trust). Thus, by indicating that the trustee will make distributions for a beneficiary’s health, support, education and maintenance, you can be sure that such funds will be used to benefit the beneficiary, but will not be wasted. By giving the distribution power to another individual (the trustee) until the beneficiary reaches a certain age, you can remove the risk that a younger beneficiary will not have the experience or maturity to handle funds responsibly. Please also note that one of the primary advantages of having assets pass to trust for your descendants (rather than having such property pass outright) is that assets left to these trusts are generally not subject to the claims of their creditors (including spouses in a marital dissolution).
