The Executor of your Will is the person whom you as “Testator” appoints to make sure that your wishes, as set forth in the Will, are fulfilled. The usual compensation approved by the local Commissioner of Accounts is five per cent (5%) of the value of the assets administered by the Executor. The Executor would not be entitled to 5% of the value of any real estate devised in the Will unless the Testator instructs him to sell the real estate. It is wise to name an alternate Executor in case the primary Executor is unable to act.

List the names (with middle initials) of the persons who will receive something of value in your Will and the family relationship, if any, to you. These are your beneficiaries. If any are under eighteen years of age, please supply his or her age.

Your Last Will and Testament will contain a provision enabling you to bequeath (give) certain items of tangible personal property to specific persons by filling out in your own handwriting at any time a list which will be attached as an addendum to your Will. This listing will not transfer money. Please list any beneficiaries to whom you would like to leave a sum of money and how much you want them to receive.

All Wills contain a “Residuary” provision whereby the “Residuary Estate” (what property is “left over” after the bequests of tangible personal property, cash and the specific real estate devises) is given to the primary beneficiaries. For example, in the case of a married couple, the Residuary Estate is usually given to the surviving spouse as the primary beneficiary and states that if that spouse has predeceased the Testator, then the Residuary Estate is given to another person(s), usually children in equal shares, and to the grandchildren if a child has predeceased the surviving spouse.

Although happily it does not often happen, there is a chance that both parents may die while one or more of their children are under the age of eighteen years. In this case, it is necessary to name a “Trustee” who will handle the assets of the parents’ estate for the benefit of the children under the terms of a simple “Orphans’ Trust” established in the Will until the child reaches a certain age. We recommend twenty-five (25) years as an appropriate age to turn over the “corpus” of the trust to the child. The Trustee is often the same person as the Executor and must supply the local Commissioner of Accounts with an annual accounting of what he has done with the child’s money.

The Power of Attorney will authorize your “Attorney-in-Fact” to deal with any type of property in your name when you are unable and will contain a medical powers paragraph which overlaps in part with the Advance Medical Directive which empowers an “Agent” to make a decision to end your life under certain circumstances. For an example of both instances, a married couple will appoint each other, and an alternate, usually a child or children, in the event either has died or is unable to act for whatever reason.