Diamond
Enthusiast
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You can leave your assets outright, or in trust. If you leave them outright, the beneficiary owns them and can dispose of them as he/she pleases. This means you can't make conditions e.g. 'I leave my entire fortune to my daughter Jane as long as she doesn't marry that loser Matt, but the minute she does the S.P.C.A. gets the works.' If in trust, you name a trustee, who controls the asset for the benefit of the beneficiary. The trustee can be any adult, a friend, a relative, a lawyer, a trust company. You need to make provision for expenses and fees the trustee may need.
If you leave everything to your spouse you should name an alternate beneficiary in case your spouse does not survive you by more than, say, one month. This is in case you are both in an accident, for example, and one outlives the other but then dies.
You need to get the executor's permission to name him/her.
I assume the lawyer's staff will witness the wills signing, but at any rate a beneficiary can't be a witness.
You should make a written list in advance of special items you want to leave, which will be mentioned in the will. Whatever is not specified will go to the main beneficiary.
e.g. "I leave my antique solid silver pancake flipper to my niece Drusilla who has always admired and coveted it. Everything else I leave to my cat in trust."
You should mention the executor's fee in the will, and if you're leaving something to the executor besides the fee, mention that too, to avoid confusion.
That's all I can think of now. To really save lawyer $time$, draft the will yourself, and you'll come upon things best sorted out ahead than in the lawyer's office: "If the executor I name dies before I do, who else would do it?" Then throw away the draft: it's served its purpose.
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