Types of Wills
Every state provides a mechanism for creating a will that is valid and enforceable. Wills, which typically address such concerns as distribution of property, naming fiduciaries and naming guardians for minor children, must be signed and witnessed in accordance with the formalities of state law. A will that conforms to the written and signature requirements is known as a formal will.
There are various types of formal wills depending upon the will’s primary purpose. While they are all valid and enforceable, they can be distinguished by their purposes and what they purport to do.
A statutory will is a model for a formal will created by a state or state agency, which requires a person to fill in the blanks of a pre-written template . It typically calls for distribution of property and names an executor.[1] Statutory wills are cheap are easy to make (they do not generally require legal assistance), but they are inflexible and cannot accomplish complex tasks.
A simple will has basic provisions to dispose of property, but little else, other than appointment of an executor and comparable boilerplate provisions. The executor’s duties and responsibilities are sometimes incorporated by reference to state law and need not be listed directly in the document. By contrast, a complex will may include more detailed provisions, including the naming of a guardian, creation of testamentary trust and exhaustive lists of executor powers and responsibilities.
Mutual, mirror, or “sweetheart” wills are usually executed by spouses[2] and mirror each other, in which each spouse’s will leaves all property to the other spouse. Similarly, a joint will may, in some states, be used by spouses to leave property to each other. Unlike the mutual will, a joint will is a single document, signed by both spouses, which determines what will happen to all of the couple’s property after one spouse dies and after the second spouse dies.
Finally, a pour-over will is a will used when a person has created a living trust and wants the trust to govern the administration of her property. The pour-over will transfers or “pours” all of the testator’s assets into a named living trust. Pour-over wills can be simple wills, or they may be more complex, often providing an alternate form of distribution if the trust does not exist at the time of death.
