If you are planning your own will, you might want to think of other options such as living trust. It will allow you to do the same job as a will, leaving your property to the beneficiaries of your choice. But you can avoid probate by using this method. It is a legal document controlling the transfer of property in the trust after your death. In the document, you will name beneficiaries who are going to receive the trust property. Just like a will, you should name primary beneficiaries for your specific property, residuary beneficiaries, and alternates if any.
For couples, there is an option of creating a shared living trust which will cover the property of both parties. However, it is not a requirement for every couple. If each spouse owns one's separate property, it might be better for each spouse to create an individual living trust rather than having combined one. Generally it is preferable to create single, shared trust in case they share the ownership of the property.
If you are living in a community property state where spouses are equally allowed to own most properties acquired after the marriage, then both of you will probably own the property together. Even in the other state where only one spouse is allowed to have the ownership, spouses who have been married for many years will be considered to have owned the most of all of the property together. In such a case, you are allowed to transfer that property into legal co-ownership when you create your shared living trust.
Same rule can be applied to unmarried couples if they want. They can register any ownership and title document in both their names as co-owners, thus sharing the ownership of the property.
It is not recommended to have two separate living trusts set up for shared property that are owned by a couple. Usually, such a case can cause a problem, ongoing record-keeping burdens as well. Also it could lead to unfair and unbalanced situation. However, no spouse is required to divide the property this way. Using a shared trust, all co-owned property can be transferred. Also you can put individually owned property into the trust, including any separate property if you want. Each spouse has a full power of naming beneficiaries for one's portion of the shared trust property and any other property of his or her own.
In case one of the spouses dies, then the shared living trust will be split into two trusts. One trust contains all of the property of the deceased one, while the other containing all property of the surviving one. The property of deceased spouse will be transferred to the beneficiaries named by that spouse. Generally the beneficiary will be the surviving spouse, but any other parties such as children or friends may also be the beneficiary.
If you are interested, you can use Living Trust Forms to leave your property to your named beneficiaries.
For more information about legal documents, go to Legal Forms site, where you can find many free legal forms and resources including living trust and living will forms that you can use to help transfer your own property and assets.
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