Questions to Ask a Lawyer When Doing a Will
Questions to bring to a first or follow-up meeting with a lawyer about drafting a will. They cover what makes a will valid, choosing an executor, providing for minor children, debts and taxes, and what happens after the document is signed. Written for someone organizing their own will, not for lawyers.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What should I bring to our first meeting so we are not doing paperwork the whole time?
Why ask it
The list is usually mundane: deeds, account statements, life insurance policies, a rough family tree. Getting it in advance turns the meeting into drafting rather than fact-gathering, and an office that says to just bring yourself will often bill you for a second meeting to collect it.
What makes a will valid in this state, and what usually makes one fail?
Why ask it
Answers here are short and state-specific: number of witnesses, whether a witness can also inherit, whether a notary is involved. Ask what actually goes wrong in practice, because wills are more often thrown out over signing formalities than over their contents.
How do you charge for a will, and what is the likely total for someone in my situation?
Why ask it
Straightforward wills are often flat-fee work. What matters is the scope: whether the quote includes the related documents, the signing appointment, and later amendments. That is where a low headline price grows.
Which of my assets pass under the will, and which pass outside it no matter what the will says?
Why ask it
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and jointly held property commonly pass by beneficiary designation or survivorship and never touch the will. People who miss this leave two sets of contradictory instructions, and the form on file at the bank is the one that gets followed.
If I died tomorrow without a will, who would inherit under state law?
Why ask it
Hearing the default gives you something to react against. If it already matches your wishes, you may need less drafting than you feared. If it sends a share to a relative you are estranged from, you now know exactly what the will is there to prevent.
What should I look for in an executor, and what makes someone a poor choice?
Why ask it
You want someone organized, likely to outlive you, and able to say no to relatives. Naming the eldest child is a habit rather than a qualification, and appointing two people who dislike each other is a reliable way to stall an estate for a year.
What will my executor actually have to do, and roughly how long does it take?
Why ask it
An honest answer covers court filings, notifying creditors, valuing assets, a final tax return, and months of waiting. Once you know the workload you can decide whether to name a professional instead, and whether to authorize paying the executor for their time.
What other documents should I be signing at the same time as the will?
Why ask it
A will does nothing while you are alive. Ask specifically about a durable power of attorney and a health care directive, since losing capacity is both more likely than sudden death and the situation families are least prepared for.
How do I provide for a child who is still a minor?
Why ask it
Two separate decisions hide in this question: who raises the child, and who controls the money until what age. If the answer names a guardian and stops there, the money side has been left unmanaged, which often means a lump sum lands on an eighteen-year-old.
What is the right way to leave money to a relative who receives disability benefits?
Why ask it
An outright gift can push someone over an eligibility limit and cost them the support they rely on. A good answer turns to a trust structure rather than a direct bequest, and says who would administer it after you are gone.
What happens to someone's share if they die before I do?
Why ask it
Ask what the drafted language does by default: does that share go to the person's own children, or fall back into the pot for the other beneficiaries? Both are reasonable, and only one of them is what you actually intend.
How should I handle specific items like jewelry, tools, or furniture?
Why ask it
Named objects cause more family arguments than money does. Useful answers cover describing items precisely enough to identify them, whether to attach a separate list you can revise, and setting a method for dividing the rest rather than leaving siblings to negotiate at the house.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough for what I own?
Why ask it
Listen for reasons tied to your facts: real estate in more than one state, a beneficiary you do not want handed a lump sum, privacy, or the cost of probate where you live. A trust recommended without any of those reasons attached is worth questioning.
How do my debts get paid, and can that eat into what I leave someone?
Why ask it
Debts and expenses come out of the estate before beneficiaries receive anything, so a specific gift can shrink or disappear. Ask which assets get sold first, because that order decides who absorbs the loss.
Will my estate owe any tax, and is there anything worth doing now?
Why ask it
Many estates owe no federal estate tax, so the real answer is usually about state-level tax and income tax on inherited retirement accounts. If the reply is a pitch for a financial product before anyone has looked at your numbers, slow the conversation down.
How do I leave a share to a charity?
Why ask it
Ask whether a fixed sum or a percentage suits you better, and how to identify the organization so the gift does not fail if it merges or closes. Charities need their exact legal name, which is often not the name on the website.
What happens to property I own in another state or another country?
Why ask it
Out-of-state real estate can trigger a second probate, and foreign property may follow local inheritance rules your will cannot override. If the lawyer is not licensed where the property sits, ask who they would bring in and what that adds to the cost.
How should I deal with online accounts, photos, and passwords?
Why ask it
The obstacle is access rather than ownership, because platform terms can bar an executor from logging in even with authority over the estate. Ask what powers to grant in the document, and keep the passwords themselves somewhere else, since a will filed in probate becomes a public record.
If I own part of a business, what happens to my share?
Why ask it
Your operating or partnership agreement may already dictate what happens and override anything the will says. Bring that agreement to the meeting, because a lawyer answering this without reading it is guessing.
How exactly is the will signed and witnessed?
Why ask it
This deserves a detailed procedural answer: who may witness, whether they have to watch you sign, whether a sworn statement gets attached to save trouble in probate. Signing at home to avoid another trip is where most avoidable errors happen.
Where should the signed original be kept, and who needs to know?
Why ask it
Ask about storage at the firm, whether the court will accept a copy, and how a safe deposit box gets opened after a death. A will nobody can locate is functionally no will, and a sealed box can require a court order.
What changes in my life should bring me back to you, and how are updates made?
Why ask it
Expect marriage, divorce, births, deaths, moving to another state, and buying property. Also ask whether small changes are handled by codicil or a fresh will and what each costs, so price does not quietly discourage you from keeping it current.
If someone in my family is likely to object, what can we do now to make this harder to challenge?
Why ask it
This is where an experienced lawyer earns the fee. Look for concrete steps: careful notes on your capacity at signing, independent witnesses, a no-contest clause if your state honors one, telling the family your reasoning while you can still explain it. Reassurance that challenges are rare is not a plan.
Getting the most out of the appointment
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to sort out before you go in
- 1Write a plain list of what you own and roughly what it is worth: property, accounts, vehicles, insurance, business interests, anything owed to you.
- 2Pull the beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance. These often control more money than the will does, and they are frequently years out of date.
- 3Note full legal names and current addresses for everyone you intend to name, including alternates.
- 4Decide the hard questions in advance rather than in the room: guardian for young children, who serves as executor, and how unequal shares are handled if you plan any.
- 5Bring any existing will, prenuptial agreement, divorce decree, or business operating agreement. All four can constrain what a new will is able to do.
Choosing an executor
Competence over seniority
The job is administrative: paperwork, deadlines, bank branches, and patience. Age order and family rank are poor guides. Someone younger who is organized and lives near the assets will usually have an easier time than a distant eldest sibling.
Ask them first
An executor who finds out at the reading of the will can decline, and then the court appoints someone. A short conversation now also lets you tell them where the document is and who your lawyer is.
Name a backup
Your first choice may predecease you, be ill, or simply not want it when the time comes. A named alternate keeps the decision with you rather than with a judge.
Where wills commonly go wrong
- Signing informally. Formality requirements are strict and unforgiving, and a will that fails them is treated as if it never existed.
- Leaving stale beneficiary designations in place, so an ex-spouse still collects the life insurance while the will says otherwise.
- Naming an asset that has been sold or spent by the time you die, which can quietly cancel that gift.
- Handwritten notes and margin edits on a signed original. Depending on the state, these can invalidate parts of the document or the whole thing.
- Storing the only original somewhere nobody can get into, or telling nobody it exists.
- Writing it once and never revisiting it. A twenty-year-old will often names the wrong people for a life that has since changed.
After you sign
- Tell your executor where the original is kept and how to reach the lawyer who drafted it.
- Keep a short, unsigned summary with your everyday papers so the family knows a will exists and where to look.
- Update beneficiary designations at the same time, since the will alone will not fix them.
- Put a reminder in your calendar to reread it every few years, and after any birth, death, marriage, divorce, or move to a new state.