Idaho Law Blog

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As an estate planning attorney, I often get questions about wills and how they work in handling a person’s estate. One of the questions I frequently get is whether a person can create their own last will and testament and whether if they do this it will be valid.

To be clear, Idaho does accept holographic wills. A holographic will is a written will that is created by the individual who is signing it. To be holographic, the signature and material provisions of the will must be in the handwriting of the person signing it.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Over the past 22 years while practicing as an estate planning and probate attorney I’ve seen and heard just about everything you can imagine when it comes to estate plans, probates, family interactions, family fights, and distributions from an estate. One of the rare things that comes up every once in a while, is that a person who was appointed through a last will and testament to be a personal representative doesn’t want to do it.

A personal representative is the individual who is named in a written will who will be in charge of the estate when a person passes away. This person has the duty and responsibility of protecting and preserving all the assets in the estate of the deceased person. The personal representative also has a duty to make sure that all legitimate debts and expenses of the decedent are paid. Finally, the personal representative has a responsibility of distributing the estate exactly how the deceased person instructed in their written Will.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As an estate planning attorney for more than 20 years I’ve helped numerous clients create their own customized estate plans. These usually include a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, a living will, and a power of attorney for health care. These estate plans could also include one or more trusts depending on the needs of the client.

Most people I work with know they need an estate plan but many of them don’t know how to begin the process. We do our best to make this as simple and easy as possible. We start by providing our Estate Planning Questionnaire, that we can either email to our clients, mail a hard copy to, or they can download a copy from our web site. This is an easy-to-fill-out pdf document that our clients can type directly into and save to their computer. Once that is done, our clients then either call or e-mail us to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. We use the free consultation to review the Questionnaire, answer questions and discuss the things that are important to our clients when it comes to their own estate plan.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

My goal as an estate planning attorney is to do exactly what it is my clients want to do so long as it is legally and morally right. Sometimes this means disinheriting a child from their estate for various reasons. Alternatively, it may also mean that my client would rather give their estate to a charity than to their family. Or it could be favoring one child more than another when it comes to dispersing and distributing assets from my clients’ estate. So long as my clients can provide me with an articulable reason for their intention, I am happy to assist them and help them.

In the past, when I have assisted my clients with getting their estate planning done, I have had many of them insist that the only document they need is a last will and testament. I do my best to help my clients understand that while this document is important, it is not the only document that they should have as part of their estate plan. In fact, in my opinion, the last will and testament is the least important document they need.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As an estate planning attorney, I often tell my clients that if they ever go through any major life changes, they should review their estate plan and make sure that it still meets their needs. One of the major life changes that often happens these days is that a person moves.  If you have moved from another state to Idaho, then this article is for you.

In many instances moving to Idaho does not require any changes to your estate plan. In fact, Idaho has a specific law that says that if your estate planning documents were valid in the state where you got them, then they will be valid even if you move to Idaho. This law is found in Idaho Code § 15-2-506. However, the fact that your Will may still be valid, may not be enough to do what you want to do.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Most people don’t have any kind of an estate plan for themselves because they don’t know how to begin one. We do our best to make the process easy. To help our clients get started, we provide a free Estate Planning Questionnaire that we can either email to you or you can download from our web site. This is a PDF document that you can type directly into and save to your computer.

Once the Questionnaire is filled out, you can email it back to us. Then we schedule a free 30-minute consultation to review your information and discuss the things that are important to you when it comes to your own estate plan. Once we know what it is that you want to accomplish, we provide you with the options you have available, and we explain those options to you. This includes the flat fee prices we charge for each of the options you can choose from.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

With the New Year upon us, it is time to take care of the basic things that need to be done to make sure that your estate-planning meets all of your personal and family needs. In other words, if you have gone to the trouble to create an estate plan then now is the time to review it and make sure that it accomplishes everything that you want. If you have not yet set up an estate plan, a new year is a perfect opportunity to get it done.

Most people who don’t have a written estate plan haven’t gotten it done because they don’t know how to start. We make the process easy. We provide a free Estate Planning Questionnaire, that we can either email to you or you can download from our web site. This is a PDF document that you can type directly into and save to your computer. You can then email it back to me and we can schedule a free 30-minute consultation to review your information and to discuss the things that are important to you when it comes to your own estate plan.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As an estate planning attorney, I always recommend that individuals get their written estate planning documents completed. Doing this would include the most important documents such as a durable power of attorney, a living will, a power of attorney for health care, and a last will and testament. All of these documents are notarized so there is no question that they were properly signed and dated by the individual. In addition to this, the last will and testament is also witnessed so that it is self-proving.

A self-proving will is one that is interpreted by the courts to be valid without the need for calling any witnesses to determine whether the signatures actually took place. In other words, the witnesses testified that they saw the individual who signed the will do so. Then the notary enters a notarization indicating that they saw both the testator of the will sign and the witnesses sign as well.

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

As I’ve often stated, whenever a celebrity passes away, I’m always interested in learning about their estate planning and the things their family is doing with their estate. The reason for this is that we can often learn great lessons from celebrities and others who do things both the right way, and the wrong way when it comes to estate planning. Recently, Sean Connery, who portrayed the original 007 James Bond, as well as other memorable big-screen characters, passed away.

It’s estimated that the value of his estate is around $350 million. Additionally, it’s clear that he owned real estate, and other business ventures and assets in several countries. In other words, his estate is likely very complex.