Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
We have done two charity events where if someone makes a donation to the cause that we are there to support of $25.00, Joel or I will take all the time you need to provide you with a simple Will. I certainly want to thank everyone who has met me and supported these two events with your donations.
What we do is set up an RV that has a generator for heating and cooling and provide an environment that has privacy so that we can talk for as long as we need to decide what type of Will someone needs or what they want to do in their Will.
We will provide a conference about what best serves your wishes for a $25.00 donation to the charity that we are working for. We then write the Will and provide two witnesses and a notary at no extra charge at our office during the next week. I truly enjoy helping people write the Wills they need. Most of the problems that people have are problems that I’ve been solving for years and so I’ve got a pretty effective range of solutions.
An example of a simple Will that one sees frequently is where someone leaves everything they have to their spouse and if the spouse does not live longer than they do (predeceases) then everything to the children. Everything to the children is most often, although not always, shared equally and includes the phrase per stirpes. Per stirpes means that if a parent outlives a child then that child’s share goes to that child’s children.
I make every effort to write a Will that never has to be rewritten. Decisions that need to be made beforehand are who is going to execute your final wishes, often a spouse, and who is going to be the backup person for that job (an alternate executor). These Wills are written so if that person that you choose to execute your final wishes has passed away or is ill or grieving or just cannot do those things that need to be done, there is an alternative choice.
In the event that an estate is being left to children who either are or could be minors then the estate or portion of the estate going to a minor needs to be held in Trust and dispersed for the health, education, welfare and maintenance of the minor.
People also need to decide who would be a guardian of their children and who would be a trustee to handle the money. I typically suggest that half the money be given to the beneficiary (child) when they finish college or reach 25 years of age because that provides an incentive for the child to go to college. I then suggest that the balance of the trust be dispersed at age 30, but all of these decisions are yours to make as long as you are healthy enough to make those directives in a valid Will.
If you have a cause that you support, such as a volunteer fire department or senior citizen center, let us know and if we can help, we will. Thank you all again.
Buckle up and drive safely.
McCutcheon & Hamner, P.C.
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, Alabama 35630
Telephone: 256-764-0112
Facsimile: 256-349-2529
