I’ve recently learned that October is 21 – 27 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week, and while I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, I have never made a will, which is an important part of any household estate plan. So this October, I’m going to find out what I need to do to make a will in Colorado, and I’m sharing my experience to help encourage others who have put off making a will to begin this process, too. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor am I offering legal advice about YOUR will! I just want to share some resources and my experience.)
While the Colorado Bar Association (pdf) recommends consulting an attorney to ensure your will is as clear and legally accurate as possible, it is possible to create a legally valid will on your own. The Mesa County Libraries website offers many legal forms which can be accessed by anyone in a library branch, and by anyone with a valid library card and password outside the library. (If you can put books on hold or access ebooks on Libby, you’ll use the same password to access these forms remotely).
Under the eResources menu, you can access will templates, along with many other useful legal document forms through the eResources A-Z page (under “L” for “Legal Forms”); you can also get to these forms and find additional information about legal resources available through the library on the Legal Information subject guide. The menu of legal forms on the Gale Legal Forms landing page is arranged alphabetically and helpfully includes categories of forms rather than every single form available. There are over 60 categories of legal forms on this page, but the one-word category I’m looking for is close to the end of the list: Wills.
Clicking on the word “Wills” presents another menu of nearly 20 category options, including “Codicils,” which I learned is “an addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or part of one.” There are numerous documents related to Estate Planning, Living Wills, and options “For People With Children” and “For People Without Children,” as well as a “Last Will and Testament” in both English and Spanish. Since my husband also has never written a will, I selected the option “Mutual Wills for Married Couple.” This takes me to a final menu with four options for couples with minor and/or adult children, or no children.
Clicking one of these options takes me to a page with forms that can be downloaded (Microsoft Word and Rich Text Formats), along with a description of the documents, a preview of the documents included in this package, and a law summary.
Once downloaded, filling out the will template is relatively easy, thanks to the Completion Instructions “cheat sheet” that is included with the will, which lets the person completing the template know what information to enter in each field. Unsurprisingly, though, this document is full of “legalese” and, depending on how complex your estate may be or how thoroughly you want to understand the language of this document, you may wish to follow the Colorado Bar Association’s recommendation and consult an attorney before signing your will in the presence of witnesses.
Talking about finances or death with those we love can be difficult. However, having access to these free resources can at least make it a little easier to begin the conversation of what you’d like to happen with your assets when the time comes. Check out our catalog for other estate planning resources.
by Ami Schiffbauer, Development Director at Mesa County Libraries