Brian's First Will

As part of my Trusts & Estates class I have to turn in a will that could be legally effective by the end of day tomorrow (final exam day). I'm not going to make an legally effective will by signing it and finding two witnesses! I borrowed a will, applied some stuff we learned in class, and will double check with some references in the library later today. To make my life simple I pretended it would be my will. I have no children (known or unknown), no wives (current or otherwise), and no siblings. If I died now my entire estate would go to my parents due to the intestacy statutes (state laws that cover property distribution of a person who died without a will).

For the most part I'm okay with that, but this assignment got me thinking about a few things. The most valuable things in my life from a money point of view are not covered by wills. My roller IRA that I created from various 401Ks will go to whatever beneficiary I designated when I created it (payable on death contract). I have some stocks, but I believe I designated a beneficiary for that Ameritrade account when I created it (another payable on death contract). (Not that my stocks are worth anything since the stock market fell four years ago. I think my pocket change is of higher value than my stock portfolio.) This will became an exercise of thinking what specific gifts (devises) would I want to go to other people. Would I want something to go to the Purdue Band? Would my friend and college roommate want the B5 related materials to remind him of the times we watched that show? LLM instant messaged me as I was writing the will. She liked the idea of getting my band jacket as a reminder of our friendship. I didn't have the heart to tell her that if she killed me that she wouldn't be able to take from my will. How would I distribute the armory and the history it represents?

I might have to write a real will during break just so a few specific gifts can go to a few specific people. That way if something actually happened to me the people and groups that I care about have something of me. Odd thoughts to ponder before a final eh?