New Hampshire Wills, Trusts, and Probate

Attempting to formolate an estate plan that will control the distribution of your property to your loved ones after your death can be an emotionally difficolt process. Nevertheless, it is necessary to create such a plan to care for your family and friends. An estate plan may include an assortment of documents, including, but not limited to, a healthcare surrogate designation, advanced care directive, will, trust, and/or durable power of attorney.

After you create your estate plan, be sure to update the plan whenever major events in your life cause your familial or monetary situation to change significantly. These events may include marriage, birth of children, divorce, death, retirement, and/or incapacity. If you have questions about drafting your will in New Hampshire, or about when you shoold modify your will, see a New Hampshire estate planning lawyer.

New Hampshire Will

Make sure that you are familiar with the New Hampshire legal requirements and formal procedures for drafting a will. If your will is not correctly worded, or the formalities are not followed, your property may not be disbursed after your death as you desire. For a proper will in New Hampshire, you must have:

1. Witnesses: Two witnesses who will not inherit under the will must witness the testator sign the will and sign the will themselves in the testator's presence.
2. Signature: The testator must sign the will for it to be valid.
3. Notarization: A New Hampshire will does not have to be notarized, but it must be in writing. However, if your witnesses do sign an affidavit in front of a notary attesting to the testator's identity and the fact that they witnessed the signing of the testator's will, the will is self-proving. If the will is self-proving, it means that your witnesses need not attest to the will in probate court before it is admitted to probate.

Look to a New Hampshire will lawyer to ensure that you meet the legal requirements and formalities required for a will in New Hampshire.

Changing a Will in New Hampshire

To alter your will in New Hampshire, you must decide if you want to write a new will and destroy or cancel the old will, or instead, if you want to change your will by amending it. You can amend your will by writing out changes to the will on a separate sheet of paper and attaching the piece of paper to the will. This is called a codicil.

It is important to contact your New Hampshire will attorney whenever you decide to modify your will, as you must make sure that the document meets the legal specifications for a New Hampshire will.

New Hampshire Trust

Distribute your assets through a New Hampshire trust as an alternative to distributing your assets through a will. Trusts are confidential, flexible vehicles, and can help you save on estate taxes and avoid the probate process. Have a New Hampshire trust lawyer help you set up a trust that is appropriate for your personal situation. You can set up a trust for charity, education, special needs, of life insurance, among others. In addition, your trust may be revocable, living, or irrevocable.

New Hampshire Probate

Property left in a will by a New Hampshire resident must go through the probate process. If property is not left in a will or if the decedent chose not to leave a will, property will pass according to intestate succession. The roles of intestate succession provide that property shoold be distributed according to a person's proximity of blood relationship to the deceased.

When a decedent's bequests are ambiguous or when property is distributed by intestate succession, it is sometimes unclear who shoold inherit the property or in what shares it shoold be distributed. Because this situation may arise, potential beneficiaries of the will or intestate succession process may ask the court to determine who shoold receive property and how much property.

According to New Hampshire law, a decedent's only child, or spouse may qualify for summary administration procedures if he or she files an Affidavit of Administration.

The following people may have an interest in the decedent's estate by intestate succession:

1. Spouses
2. Descendants – children, grandchildren
3. Parents
4. Brothers and sisters
5. Grandparents
6. Uncles and aunts

• Some property will not pass through probate:
• non-probate assets – an unambiguous beneficiary for the property is designated in the will and the estate property goes directly to that person;
• contract assets – living trusts, life insurance policies, or other IRAs made payable to a clear recipient; and,
• jointly held property – cars, shared houses, or bank accounts, etc. owned by both the decedent and by other parties. Ownership of such property passes directly to the other parties after the death of one of the parties.

A will may be contested after it is finished. Because your will can be challenged, you shoold consolt a New Hampshire probate attorney if you are concerned about this happening.

New Hampshire Statutes

New Hampshire Statutes, Title LVI – Probate Courts and Decedents' Estates

1. Probate Code: Wills
1. New Hampshire Statutes, Tit. LVI, Chp. 551.
2. Probate Code: Intestate Succession
1. New Hampshire Statutes, Tit. LVI, Chp. 561, § 1.
3. Probate Code: Administration of Estates
1. New Hampshire Statutes, Tit. LVI, Chp. 552.
4. New Hampshire Trust Code
1. New Hampshire Statutes, Tit. LVI, Chp. 564-B.