Is my will able to be done and how much?

[PerceptionDoors]

I live in Colorado.

Here is what I want in a will:

• charitible fund 50% to two charities 501c3
• bank stuff goes to brother
• brother executor
• send encrypted message
• instructions sealed on usb with will
• password to usb sealed and only seen by executor
• living will = pull the plug in coma
• power of attorney = brother
• don't care where buried or cremated or body donated to science
• any car or property owned by me at the time of my death gets sold and money goes to 4 charities, 3 have 501c3 one does not

Do I even need a lawyer for this or is legalzoom or something similar the way to go?

Thank you.

 

[adjusterjack]

You would be wise to have a lawyer involved in drafting your will. There are lawyers that will do wills for a few hundred dollars. Call around. One mistake you're already making is thinking a will on a USB is going to be valid. Wills have to be on paper with original signatures of the testator and witnesses so that they can be filed with the court by the executor upon the death of the testator.

 

[PerceptionDoors]

I didn't mean the will on usb only the instructions for how to decrypt my message and send to who I want, I don't want anyone to see it and only my brother when I am dead. Thanks, last one told me $400 guess I will ask around more.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I live in Colorado.

Here is what I want in a will:

• charitible fund 50% to two charities 501c3
• bank stuff goes to brother
• brother executor
• send encrypted message
• instructions sealed on usb with will
• password to usb sealed and only seen by executor
• living will = pull the plug in coma
• power of attorney = brother
• don't care where buried or cremated or body donated to science
• any car or property owned by me at the time of my death gets sold and money goes to 4 charities, 3 have 501c3 one does not

Do I even need a lawyer for this or is legalzoom or something similar the way to go?

Thank you.

You may certainly designate that certain things go to your designated charities and other things go to your brother. You may also nominate your brother as executor in the will. But the will must be in writing and signed by you as well as signed by two witnesses who observed you signing the will. In Colorado it is also a good idea to including an affidavit to the will which makes the will self-proving should the will be contested in court. Only the original of the will is admissible for probate. As a result, you need to have the signed paper will put in a safe place where your brother knows the location so he can access it after your death.

You may also give your brother a power of attorney to act on your behalf in certain matters. The most common are a financial power of attorney and a healthcare power of attorney. The healthcare power of attorney is different from a living will. The living will, also known as an advance health care directive, tells health care providers what kind of life saving treatment you want in the event that you cannot speak for yourself at the time. The healthcare power of attorney allows the agent (your brother) to make healthcare decisions for you and covers situations that the living will does not. If you want the powers of attorney to be valid if you become incompetent, you need to have language specifically included for that to make them durable powers of attorney. Your brother should has the signed paper powers of attorney and you should give one original living will to him as well as signed originals to the healthcare providers you see on a regular basis. Colorado has what are known as statutory forms for most of these documents. Using those is preferred if they fit what you want to do since your brother will encounter much less resistance from others in accepting the documents if they are in the form set out by Colorado statute. The statutes do not require use of the statutory forms; they are simply provided as an option.

What you can't do is have the only version of the will, powers of attorney, and living will on a usb flash drive. When push comes to shove in some dispute over them, he needs the paper documents with your original signatures on them, and in the case of the will, with the original signatures of the witnesses, too. (And the attestation of the notary if you include the self proving affidavit.)

You can do all this yourself if you know what to do and how to draft these documents. Otherwise, see a Colorado estate planning lawyer.

 

[PerceptionDoors]

Thank you for telling me about the statutory forms I will check that out right away. I understand the will has to be paper. The only thing on usb is the message, who to send it to, and how to do this safely. I just want it to be private.

 

[adjusterjack]

Thanks, last one told me $400 guess I will ask around more.

$400 is certainly a reasonable enough price to pay to make sure it's done right.

 

[PerceptionDoors]

thank you wasn't sure, I only talked to one lawyer about it very briefly then had to move and lost touch with him.

Thanks guys. The subject is not one of my favorites I have been putting it off for a long time which is not the smartest thing to do.

I will take your advice to heart, thank you.

And FWIW this isn't my first name here, I can't remember the passwords or emails to my old ones but I had great help here in the drug charge forum, and never got in trouble again. Now doing fine legally.

 

[TrustUser]

just a note - the health care attorney is named in the california health care directive - to me a better way of doing it - having all instructions in 1 document

 

[Taxing Matters]

just a note - the health care attorney is named in the california health care directive - to me a better way of doing it - having all instructions in 1 document

In Colorado, the living will (aka advance healthcare directive) and the health care power of attorney are distinctively different and accomplish different things.

 

[PerceptionDoors]

so you get one or the other? I will learn more about it, my goal is just not to drain the family as a vegetable in that scenario.

 

[Taxing Matters]

so you get one or the other? I will learn more about it, my goal is just not to drain the family as a vegetable in that scenario.

You can have both a living will and healthcare power of attorney. I've done both for clients. In fact, you likely want both. As I said, they accomplish slightly different things. Note that some health institutions, like say some of the big Denver area hospitals, might have their own forms for living wills, which might be preferable to use for those institutions.

 

[FlyingRon]

You may find it difficult to put conditions in an encrypted form and make it binding on the estate. You certainly aren't going to KEEP it secret from the probate process. If you want to play those games, you may wish to talk to a lawyer about a trust.

 

[Zigner]

I think the OP wants to write a personal letter to be opened only upon his death, but in digital form.

 

[FlyingRon]

I think the OP wants to write a personal letter to be opened only upon his death, but in digital form.

But he said "instructions." Any "instructions" in such a recording would likely not be enforceable by just a will.

 

[Taxing Matters]

But he said "instructions." Any "instructions" in such a recording would likely not be enforceable by just a will.

That depends on what those instructions were, and we don't know what kind of instructions the OP has in mind.