Page 45 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2017- Online Magazine

the community property. In the example, Robert and Carol did not
have any children, but if they did, then Damien would have shared
Robert’s community half proportionally with any children Robert
and Carol produced together.

When does a will become effective, and how does that happen?
Some people seem to think that merely executing a will has some 8207 Hudson Ave, Ste D • Lubbock, TX 79423
kind of legal effect. More than once, I have had someone, Joe, for
(806) 368-8805
example, suggest to me that because Ethel named him in her will as
the person to carry out her instructions, her executor in other words,
fax: (806) 686-0444
that he has some kind of authority to act even before she dies. Nope.
Sometimes even Ethel will suggest that Joe can act for her in the Medicaid Qualification
here and now since her will names him the executor. Nope. What Supplemental Needs Trusts
Ethel and Joe are thinking of is a power of attorney which is an Lee Franks Estate Planning
important topic for another day and another article. A will becomes Guardianship
effective after two things have happened. First, the person who Probate
executed the will has to die, and then a court of law has to issue an
Your Elder Law
order probating the will. &
Estate Planning Team
That gets us to how a will becomes effective – probate. To probate Laura Beth Pleasant
means to prove, think probe or probity. So you die, and then FPLAWTEAM.COM
someone relevant to the estate, usually the person named as executor
applies to the appropriate court of law, usually the local county court,
to probate your will. Once the prescribed amount of time passed
after the application is filed, the judge hears evidence and determines
whether the will is valid. Most of the time, the applicant provides
the proper proof without anyone contesting the will’s validity, and
the court signs an order admitting the will to probate and authorizes
the county clerk to issue Letters Testamentary allowing the executor
to represent and to act for the decedent.

At the end of the day, a will makes it much more likely that your
stuff goes to the people you want to get it (and in the percentages
you prefer) when you die, but it does not become effective until you
actually pass away and a court admits it to probate. Alternatively,
dying without a will can lead to perverse outcomes that you would
prefer to avoid.

In no way does this short article cover all you should know about
wills or the probate process, rather this article aims to motivate
you to learn more about wills and the probate process. Learn more
about protecting your family, and relieve them of the burden of
your passing as much as you can. It will be hard enough losing you
without the added stress of facing it unprepared.

Please see an attorney if you do not have a will or need to look into probate. Although
himself an attorney, the author offers this article only to inform and to entertain.
This article contains no actionable legal advice and cannot create an attorney-client
relationship between the author and any reader.

Lubbock Senior Link 45