What happens to your money after you ctb?

[natali4]

I don't have a lot of money or stuff, but I want to leave whatever I have to my family. Is it a good idea to write your own will? I don't even know how to write a will, so it will probably be a letter. But is that going to be legally acceptable?

 

[NothingElseMatters]

i have something around 20,000 bucks. i intend to spend it in the next few months, maybe some whores, dunno yet

 

[its-about-time]

Look up next of kin laws for wherever you live. If your belongings automatically go to your family by default then no need to do anything.

 

[outrider567]

My estate's worth about $350,000--But since my only brother is dying of lung cancer, I changed my will so that St Jude's Children's Cancer Hospital gets it, aside from $25,000 that is a gift to my niece who has 4 kids---Left some signed blank checks so my stepmother can pay the balance of my Mausoleum burial

 

[CommitSudoku]

Check your accounts and see if they allow you to set a beneficiary in case anything happens to you. Most accounts should allow you to set this. When I started my full time job I went through and set up a beneficiary for all my accounts, not just the life insurance I doubt anyone will get. I know my savings accounts also allow me to set a beneficiary. I don't know about writing a will or any laws since those would likely be location specific.

 

[Hercules]

Writing a letter saying you want your money to go to a certain person isn't legally binding and won't be honored. The bank will not give your money to someone without a legal document saying that they are entitled to it.

You should have an attorney set up a will to make sure that your wishes are respected. If you don't have a will, your estate will have to go through probate which is expensive and time consuming. The state may not necessarily honour your wishes if it goes through probate. They could decide in favor of another relative who challenges it instead of deciding in favor of your beneficiary.

You can also set up a Totten Trust for your bank accounts. You have to go to the bank and fill out a form, and the bank will add a beneficiary to your account. After your death, your beneficiary just has to show them a copy of your death certificate, and the bank will give them the money. It doesn't have to go through probate.

 

[WorthlessTrash]

I am probably going to leave my PayPal info and bank info under my keyboard when I go so my mom can use it to take care of the cats and finances at home. I don't have much money at all since I don't do anything and never went to college. I do have a bunch of valuable cards in my card game that I will leave instructions for my mother to sell as well. I won't need any of it when I go.

 

[SofterSoftest]

Writing a letter saying you want your money to go to a certain person isn't legally binding and won't be honored. The bank will not give your money to someone without a legal document saying that they are entitled to it.

You should have an attorney set up a will to make sure that your wishes are respected. If you don't have a will, your estate will have to go through probate which is expensive and time consuming. The state may not necessarily honour your wishes if it goes through probate. They could decide in favor of another relative who challenges it instead of deciding in favor of your beneficiary.

You can also set up a Totten Trust for your bank accounts. You have to go to the bank and fill out a form, and the bank will add a beneficiary to your account. After your death, your beneficiary just has to show them a copy of your death certificate, and the bank will give them the money. It doesn't have to go through probate.

I totally second all of this. Depending on what jurisdiction you're in, you could ask a notary public (instead of an attorney) to help you draft a will, which is (usually) not very expensive.

In my case, I had a notary public prepare a will, and I also appointed a trust company as executor of my estate. Had I not done these things, my estate would have gone to probate (even if the value is not that high), and more importantly, my SO would have had to do things like make funeral arrangements, file my taxes, and inform the government (and all other relevant authorities/stakeholders) of my death. It's a huge burden to put on somebody who is grieving. Now, if/when I do CTB, it'll be a neutral third party who does all of this administrative work. They take some money out of your estate to bring everything to a close, but IMO it's worth it.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I don't have a lot of money or stuff, but I want to leave whatever I have to my family. Is it a good idea to write your own will? I don't even know how to write a will, so it will probably be a letter. But is that going to be legally acceptable?

You can write your own will. They're legally acceptable in most cases. BUT, if you ctb, that throws a wrinkle in things a bit. It could be argued that you WEREN'T of sound mind when you wrote out your final wishes, whether it was a will you drafted yourself, or a letter. It will still have to be given consideration by any court. It can't just be dismissed. But, it might be dismissed, especially if it is contested by a bunch of family and such.

 

[Alex6216]

i have something around 20,000 bucks. i intend to spend it in the next few months, maybe some whores, dunno yet

Spend it on N first dude, or at-least chloroquine and oxazepam or GHB + Xanax off the dark web. Dont spend your time not preparing and then wishing you did something earlier

 

[Symbiote]

If you're in the US, if you do not have a will, all your assets and money will be locked up in probate courts for a year while your next of kin can battle it out to see who will claim your assets. If it's small amounts, it's usually over quickly. If you own several homes, have investment accounts and banks, then probate will drag on for a year while they research and investigate all family members and decide how much of a percentage each person is entitled to.

 

[NoahJuan]

I don't have a lot of money or stuff, but I want to leave whatever I have to my family. Is it a good idea to write your own will? I don't even know how to write a will, so it will probably be a letter. But is that going to be legally acceptable?

This is going to vary wildly depending on where you live, if you have any relatives, what their specific relation to you is, etc.

There is a whole speciality within the legal profession dedicated just to answering this question on a case by case basis.

You have not given anywhere near enough details about this situation for anyone to even begin to answer this question for you. And the info that would be needed to answer is not the sort of stuff you really should be telling strangers on the internet on a suicide forum.

If you want to know the answer, speak to an attorney in your area that deals with estates.

 

[Cancún]

I have a lot of money in the bank . But wtf do I care I will be dead they can do what ever

 

[Quiet Desperation]

Assuming you're in the US, a simple option to avoid the hassle of probate, wills, trusts and that entire industrial complex is to title your accounts or assets as 'Payable on Death' or 'Transfer on Death'. In most states you can amend your bank account, taxable investment account, title to your vehicle, etc to list a beneficiary in the event you die. For retirement accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs you just update your beneficiary within the account and there is no POD/TOD designation.

Each institution has different procedures so look them up on their website or call them. For cars you will probably have to get a new title from the DMV listing the TOD designation on the title under your name. Regardless of the situation it should be pretty simple to do.

The advantage of this approach is that your beneficiary does not need to go through the courts, possibly retaining counsel for probate, and going through the huge hassle it requires. They can contact each institution directly, provide a death certificate and retrieve your assets.

All that said, it's still a good idea to have an estate plan in place to cover contingencies and especially your directives surrounding end of life medical care, power of attorney, etc. If you don't have those in place and a situation arises, it becomes a lot more difficult and decisions might be made against your wishes if you don't have them documented. A reputable lawyer should be able to provide you with something basic that satisfies your state's requirements for a few hundred bucks.

 

[Cancún]

Money worth nothing when you are ill
Zero nothing

 

[VoidDesirer22]

I have such little money I barely could afford a hotel :D

 

[lavendersrue]

I totally second all of this. Depending on what jurisdiction you're in, you could ask a notary public (instead of an attorney) to help you draft a will, which is (usually) not very expensive.

In my case, I had a notary public prepare a will, and I also appointed a trust company as executor of my estate. Had I not done these things, my estate would have gone to probate (even if the value is not that high), and more importantly, my SO would have had to do things like make funeral arrangements, file my taxes, and inform the government (and all other relevant authorities/stakeholders) of my death. It's a huge burden to put on somebody who is grieving. Now, if/when I do CTB, it'll be a neutral third party who does all of this administrative work. They take some money out of your estate to bring everything to a close, but IMO it's worth it.

I 100% agree with this! I'm also really glad that you were able to find a way to settle your estate.

I'm just jumping in to stress the importance to everyone reading this of researching the laws of your jurisdiction (especially if you're in the US.) I'm a Notary Public and, in my state, we are not able to give any kind of legal advice. We're not even supposed to tell people what type of notarial certificate is required for their documents, so helping someone draft a will would be a big no-no here. It's super important to find out what requirements your area has regarding wills, and to speak with an attorney if at all possible.

In my jurisdiction, in order to be legally-binding, a will must be witnessed by two disinteresred parties in addition to being notarized. I can't count the number of times people have come in with self-drafted "wills" that are missing these requirements (no places for the witnesses to sign, no notarial certificate, etc.)

TL;DR: Please speak to an attorney or thoroughly research the law in your area before writing a will!

 

[Judy Garland]

I don't know who is going to get my $400 dollars I keep in my Wizard Of Oz DVD. I don't know whose gonna' find it. Some lucky person who buys the DVD in a garage sale. Most likely it'll be at the town dump.

 

[SofterSoftest]

I 100% agree with this! I'm also really glad that you were able to find a way to settle your estate.

I'm just jumping in to stress the importance to everyone reading this of researching the laws of your jurisdiction (especially if you're in the US.) I'm a Notary Public and, in my state, we are not able to give any kind of legal advice. We're not even supposed to tell people what type of notarial certificate is required for their documents, so helping someone draft a will would be a big no-no here. It's super important to find out what requirements your area has regarding wills, and to speak with an attorney if at all possible.

In my jurisdiction, in order to be legally-binding, a will must be witnessed by two disinteresred parties in addition to being notarized. I can't count the number of times people have come in with self-drafted "wills" that are missing these requirements (no places for the witnesses to sign, no notarial certificate, etc.)

TL;DR: Please speak to an attorney or thoroughly research the law in your area before writing a will!

Wow, interesting. I didn't know that drafting wills was outside the scope of practice for an American notary. I'm not in the US, and having a notary offer support with this is very common where I am. We typically only hire a lawyer if the estate is very complex.

 

[NoahJuan]

Wow, interesting. I didn't know that drafting wills was outside the scope of practice for an American notary. I'm not in the US, and having a notary offer support with this is very common where I am. We typically only hire a lawyer if the estate is very complex.

Varies by state. Each states makes it's own laws about it in the US. In some states, you can just write one up yourself and take it to a notary. In others states, no.