Example of a Simple Will

Simple Will Template

Last Will of George Washington

Dated July 4, 1776

Article I. I, George Washington, of 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia, make this my Will, and I revoke all Wills and Codicils previously made by me.

Article II. I direct that all my debts and funeral expenses be paid as soon after my death as may be convenient.

Article III. I direct my Executor to pay from my residuary estate as administration expenses, without apportionment, all estate, inheritance, succession, and death taxes with respect to any property required to be included in my gross estate for purposes of such taxes, whether such property passes under this will or otherwise.

Article IV. If my wife, Martha Washington, survives me, I give to my wife all my interest in the real property and the improvements thereto located at 3200 Mount Vernon Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Article V If my wife does not survive me, I give to my son John Parke Custis the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Article VI. I hereby direct my Executors to divide into two equal shares all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property, real, personal, and of any nature whatsoever and wheresoever situate, and I hereby give the said two equal shares (each, an “Equal Share”) as follows:

1. If my wife, Martha Washington, survives me, then I give to my wife the First Equal Share. If my wife does not survive me, then I direct the First Equal Share be added to the Second Equal Share given in Paragraph 2 of this Article V
2. I give the Second Equal Share to be distributed equally among my children per stirpes.

Article VII. I nominate John Adams as the Executor of my will and estate. If John Adams fails to qualify, dies, resigns, or otherwise ceases to serve, I nominate Thomas Jefferson to be Executor of my will and estate.

Article VIII. If my wife does not survive me and I leave minor children surviving me, I appoint as guardian of the person and property of my minor children my friend, James Madison. If James Madison does not qualify or for any reason ceases to serve as guardian, I appoint my friend John Quincy Adams as successor guardian.

SIGNATURES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, George Washington, being of sound mind, sign this Will as my free and voluntary act on this 4th day of July, 1776.

____(signature)___

George Washington

The foregoing instrument was signed by the Testator in our presence and declared by him to be the Testator’s Will. We, the undersigned witnesses, sign our names hereunto as witness at the request of the Testator, and to the best of our knowledge believe the testator to be at least eighteen (18) years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. Signed on this 4th day of July, 1776.

____(signature)___

Witness #1 Name

10 Apple Tree Ln, Mount Vernon, VA

____(signature)___

Witness #2 Name

11 Fig Tree Dr, Mount Vernon, VA

Detailed Analysis of the Example Simple Will

Now that you’ve seen what a simple will looks like, let’s learn what each part means.

Identification

Article I. I, George Washington, of 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia, make this my Will, and I revoke all Wills and Codicils previously made by me.

This first article identifies the person making the will, called a Testator or Willmaker, and his current address. Referencing the address serves as an identifier that helps distinguish the Testator from other individuals with the same name.

Article I concludes with a declaration to "revoke all Wills and Codicils previously made by me." Regardless of whether you’ve created a will in the past, most estate planning attorneys will include this standard language that revokes all prior wills and codicils (an amendment to a will). Any will made by George prior to the date on this one, July 4, 1776, is void, allowing us to consider this will on a standalone basis without having to piece together a bunch of other documents.

Payment of Debts and Taxes

Article II. I direct that all my debts and funeral expenses be paid as soon after my death as may be convenient.

Following the identification provisions of Article I, we can think of Article II and all articles following it as like a set of instructions.

The first instruction deals with debts. The law dictates that all your debts must be settled prior to distributing any assets under your will. Article II acknowledges this requirement.

Article III. I direct my Executor to pay from my residuary estate as administration expenses, without apportionment, all estate, inheritance, succession, and death taxes with respect to any property required to be included in my gross estate for purposes of such taxes, whether such property passes under this will or otherwise.

Depending on the value of your estate and the state in which you and your beneficiaries live, your estate and/or the distributions you make may be subject to state or federal tax. Most Americans are unlikely to hit the $13.61MM federal estate tax threshold (as of 2024), but 17 states have some form of state estate and/or inheritance tax with much lower thresholds.

Article VI in George’s simple will describes who pays such taxes (if any) and how they are paid.

Who pays: By making the taxes an administration expense of the estate, George implicitly seeks to ensure that any tax liability resulting from his gifts are borne by George’s estate and not his beneficiary. If his son John is a resident of Maryland and subject to Maryland’s 15% inheritance tax, for example, that inheritance tax would be paid by George’s estate.

How the taxes are paid: George’s will dictates that the taxes are to be paid from the residuary estate. This means that the taxes do not decrease the value of any specific or general gifts, since those gifts are made before the gifts under the residuary estate. For most estates in which the residuary estate is the largest portion of the estate, this method tends to work well. If instead the specific and general gifts represent most of the value of the estate and the beneficiaries of those gifts are different than those under the residuary estate, the beneficiaries of the residuary estate end up paying more than their fair share of the tax burden. The same result also occurs if the principal has moved most of his assets into a revocable trust or other instrument with taxes paid by the residuary estate. For most people, the goal should be to ensure that taxes are paid by those who benefit most from the gifts.

Specific and General Gifts

Article IV. If my wife, Martha Washington, survives me, I give to my wife all my interest in the real property and the improvements thereto located at 3200 Mount Vernon Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Article IV is an example of a specific gift, which is a gift that matches to a specific asset owned by the Willmaker. If George's wife Martha is alive when George passes, Martha is entitled to that specific Mount Vernon property. The Willmaker's representative, the Executor, has to give her that property and can’t substitute it with any other.

There are only two instances in which Martha will not receive the Mount Vernon propery. The first is if Martha passes away before George. If Martha predeceases George, the gift lapses and is included with the rest of George’s estate. The second instance in which Martha may not receive the gift is if George's debts are greater than the value of all his other assets not included as specific gifts. The Executor in this case would be compelled to sell Mount Vernon in order to help satisfy the creditor demands.

Article V. If my wife does not survive me, I give to my son John Parke Custis the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Article V giving $10,000 to George’s son, John, is an example of a general gift. A general gift is one where the form of asset is substitutable. One hundred $100 bills are fundamentally no different than five hundred $20 bills.

When an estate’s assets are distributed, specific gifts like the Mount Vernon property to Martha rank first. Next in line are people like John who are getting general gifts. Last are the recipients of the residuary of the estate.

Residuary Estate

Article VI. I hereby direct my Executors to divide into two equal shares all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property, real, personal, and of any nature whatsoever and wheresoever situate, and I hereby give the said two equal shares (each, an “Equal Share”) as follows:

1. If my wife, Martha Washington, survives me, then I give to my wife the First Equal Share. If my wife does not survive me, then I direct the First Equal Share be added to the Second Equal Share given in Paragraph 2 of this Article IV
2. I give the Second Equal Share to be distributed equally among my children per stirpes.

Article VI handles what to do with George's residuary estate. Residuary estate is just a fancy way of referring to everything left over after paying all the debts and taxes and making the specific and general gifts that we covered in Articles II through V. For most Willmakers, the residuary estate is the largest portion of the estate by value.

The language "of any nature whatsoever and wheresoever situate" clarifies that the residue includes property of all kinds owned by George no matter where it is located. Property owned by George in Virginia or New York is treated the same under this will, even if it goes through a different probate process in each state.

Now that we've covered what the residuary estate actually is, let's look at how George is gifting it.

George divides his residuary estate into two equal shares. His wife Martha gets the first share and his children split the second. If Martha passes away before George, her first share would be added to the amount distributed to the children.

The children’s share is a class gift that is distributed per stirpes, which means “by branch.” George’s children, John and Martha Jr., each represent a branch of George’s line that each receives a ½ share of the Second Equal Share. If John predeceases George, the ½ share designated for John’s branch passes to John’s children. A per stirpes distribution is a common but not the exclusive method of distribution for residuary estates. Check out our overview on the benefits and downsides of different distribution methods if you want to learn more about some of the options available to you.

Nomination of Executor

Article VII. I nominate John Adams as the Executor of my will and estate. If John Adams fails to qualify, dies, resigns, or otherwise ceases to serve, I nominate Thomas Jefferson to be Executor of my will and estate.

Article VII names the Executor of George’s estate. Sometimes called the Personal Representative, an Executor is a trusted individual tasked with overseeing the administration of the estate. Choosing the right Executor is an important decision in estate planning because this person is the one responsible for ensuring that your wishes are met to the fullest extent possible.

In addition to naming his friend John Adams as Executor, George names the younger Thomas Jefferson as a successor Executor. Including a backup or multiple backups is a good idea in case the first choice is unable or unwilling to serve.

Nomination of Child Guardian

Article VIII. If my wife does not survive me and I leave minor children surviving me, I appoint as guardian of the person and property of my minor children my friend, James Madison. If James Madison does not qualify or for any reason ceases to serve as guardian, I appoint my friend John Quincy Adams as successor guardian.

The nomination of guardians in Article VIII is for many parents a vital aspect of the estate plan. In instances in which one parent survives, that surviving parent is typically the de facto guardian of the minor children, regardless if the will expresses desires to the contrary. Discussing guardian nominations with individuals who are not your spouse, like a brother or a sister, is critical.

Signatures

SIGNATURES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, George Washington, being of sound mind, sign this Will as my free and voluntary act on this 4th day of July, 1776.

____(signature)___

George Washington

The foregoing instrument was signed by the Testator in our presence and declared by him to be the Testator’s Will. We, the undersigned witnesses, sign our names hereunto as witness at the request of the Testator, and to the best of our knowledge believe the testator to be at least eighteen (18) years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. Signed on this 4th day of July, 1776.

____(signature)___

Witness #1 Name

10 Apple Tree Ln, Mount Vernon, VA

____(signature)___

Witness #2 Name

11 Fig Tree Dr, Mount Vernon, VA

Correctly completing the Signatures and Acknowledgement of a will is essential to ensuring its legal validity.

You can't just sign your name and pass it to a couple family members to countersign. To nail your last will signing ceremony, you must do a handful of things:

• Staple your last will prior to signing
• Pick qualified, disinterested witnesses
• Declare you are signing the will as your voluntary act (i.e., no one is forcing you to sign or create the will)
• Sign in the presence and hearing of your witnesses and have them do the same

Although state law generally does not demand a set form for the body of most of the rest of the will, many states have suggested forms for the signatures and acknowledgement, or at the very least, required elements that the signatures and acknowledgement must contain.

For a will to be valid, state law requires that the person making the will must be of sound mind, understand that by this document he is creating his will, and that he does so as a free and voluntary act with no undue influence. George's Signatures and Acknowledgement section affirms this understanding.

If you look at where George's witnesses signed, you can see they included their addresses. Including the current address is standard practice to help make it easier to find witnesses should they be called to testify to the proper execution of the will as part of the probate process. In most states, the requirement of the witness testimony in probate court can be dropped by making a will self-proved. To the extent possible, the Testator should seek to self-prove the will by conducting the signing ceremony in the presence of a notary public, as this is likely to speed up and lower the costs of probate court.

Is a Simple Will Legal?

Many people are surprised to learn that you can legally create your will with a simple template like the one in this article. We're led to believe that writing a will is some form of sacred science that can only be understood by an attorney. That's simply not true.

If you look up the laws governing last wills in your state, you'll find that there are three major requirements to make a last will valid:

1. The Willmaker is an adult (i.e., 18 years or older, in most states)
2. The Willmaker is of sound mind (i.e., able to make and understand his decisions) and has not been coerced into writing or signing the will
3. The Willmaker signs the will with the proper witnesses and/or notary public

We might add a fourth -- type your will as opposed to handwriting it -- since not all states recognize handwritten wills (e.g., holographic wills) as valid.

But that's really it. If you do these four things, you can create make your own legally valid last will in any state in the United States.

What are the benefits of using a paid service to write your will?

Our acknowledgement as an online estate planning company that it's actually quite easy to create your own legal last will may come as a bit of a shock. Why then, would someone ever pay to create their last will with an attorney or with an online estate planning company like Just In Case Estates?

It's true that our documents include more comprehensive language. In Identification, we'll identify your family and beneficiaries and we'll name any "typical" heirs you may have to whom, for whatever reason, you're not gifting in your will. We'll help organize your Gifts across various asset classes and let you go deeper with contingency planning for backup beneficiaries or beneficiaries who may still be minors (and unable to directly inherit property) at the time of your passing. We'll call out the specific powers with which you're entrusting your Executor and Guardian. And we'll include detailed notes and state-specific signing instructions to make your last will official.

But the true difference -- at least in the case of Just In Case Estates -- goes well beyond the document.

We guide you through each decision in your last will step-by-step to help avoid common mistakes and more common mistakes in will drafting. Our member success team is available to serve you via text, phone, email, and video chat, and we provide a ton of other on-demand article and video resources you can turn to for additional clarification, including line-by-line reviews of everything in your estate planning documents.

We provide checklists and a centralized member's portal where you can organize all your assets, including assets that aren't referenced as specific gifts and assets that move outside of your last will. Because yes, not every asset is a probate asset and in addition to drafting your last will, you'll need to make sure beneficiary designations on other accounts are up to date. We'll help with that.

We help you understand the full picture of your estate plan with dynamic visualizations to track assets, beneficiaries, and progress on your plan.

We allow you to easily share your plan with key stakeholders, including executors, beneficiaries, and financial advisors, directly from the JIC Estates platform.

Most of all, we provide peace of mind that you've handled everything correctly and your affairs are in order.

If you're ready, get started on your last will today and experience the JIC Estates difference for yourself.