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Winnie Wang
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WILL OR NO WILL?

    You should not assume that when your husband or wife dies,
    everything will automatically comes to you. It is normally true only
    if the property is jointly owned by Husband and Wife. If your
    husband or wife dies and the property is under his or her name
    alone, in most states, the surviving husband or wife is entitled to
    only about one half of the assets of a deceased spouse. The rest
    will be passed to the children.

    If you die without a will, the division and distribution of your
    estate is governed by an "intestate" law. If you are survived by a
    spouse and children (or grandchildren), your estate is usually
    divided between your spouse and children. If you have only
    children (or grandchildren), the estate is divided among your
    children (and grandchildren). If you have neither spouse, children,
    nor grandchildren, the estate is distributed to your parents,
    brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or cousins,
    depending on who survives you.

    You may be very surprised to find out that not only half of your
    spouse’ property goes to your children, but if your children are
    minors, the court must appoint a guardian for the property
    passing to the children. In some states the surviving parent cannot
    be appointed as the guardian. That means, you not only have to
    raise the children without your spouse, you do not have the right
    to the assets passed to them. You may find yourself in an awkward
    and painful situation.

    A will gives you power to distribute your assets the way you wish.
    A will gives you power to appoint a guardian of your choice for
    your minor children. A will gives you power to appoint a trustee of
    your choice for your minor children. A will can save you taxes if
    your assets exceed certain amounts.

    A will only controls the assets in your name that are part of your
    estate, and there are many types of assets which are not part of
    your estate and do not pass under a will. For example, life
    insurance, annuities, retirement benefits, and individual retirement
    accounts are usually payable to a named beneficiary, so they are
    not part of the estate and are not controlled by the will. Also,
    property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the
    entireties, or by one or more persons as joint tenants with rights
    of survivorship, automatically pass to the surviving owner,
    regardless of what is said in a will. If all of your assets are jointly
    owned with your husband or wife, a will may not be needed if
    your husband or wife survives you. You should discuss  your
    situation with an attorney.
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