The Property You Shouldn’t Put in a Will

There are certain kinds of property you can leave out of your will, for a variety of reasons. In many cases this is because the property will already pass to your heirs through other means.

Here’s a quick look at some of the property that should not be included in a will:

• Property with a named beneficiary: Any type of property that has a named beneficiary designation does not need to be included in a will. This could include proceeds of a life insurance or annuity, various retirement accounts and pension plans, military benefits and other types of government benefits.
• Property you place in a trust: If you’ve already placed property in a trust, you don’t need to also worry about putting it in a will. Any property put into a trust automatically passes to the beneficiary named in the trust document without having to go through the probate process, including property you put into a revocable trust.
• Property owned with right of survivorship: If you have a property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship or tenancy by the entirety, any share of the property in question you own would automatically pass to a surviving co-owner upon your death. Unless all other co-owners of the property also die at the same time, then there is no use for a will provision indicating your wishes for what will happen to such property.

Interested in learning more about how you should and should not use your will, especially in conjunction with a trust? Contact an experienced Tampa, FL estate planning lawyer at BaumannKangas Estate Law for more information.