As you draft up your last will and testament, you need to be careful about the language you use. Ambiguous or uncertain terms can leave your heirs perplexed as to how to divide your assets when you are no longer around.
Many of the most common will writing mistakes, however, do not necessarily have to do with the way it is written. Learn what these mistakes are so you can avoid them as you progress on your will.
Leaving your will as it is after the first draft
It may have taken you many months of deliberation and revising to get your will to what seems like a perfect state. SmartAsset indicates that a mistake many people make at this point is to put their wills away and forget about them for ten years.
What about major life events, such as having a child, getting married or getting divorced? If you want to keep your heirs from getting confused or ripped of what you would want them to have, you should review your will every time a major event happens.
Leaving assets out
If you think you have made a comprehensive list of all of your assets and whom they will go to, check it over again. It is common for disputes to occur over valuable possessions that were left out of a will.
Forgetting about a guardian for children
Your children are probably the first people you put as heirs in your will, but have you thought about who will look after them? If you do not state your children’s designated guardian in your will, the state will choose for you as it has for so many others who have made the same mistake.