Kinds of gifts in a will
Wills usually combine gifts of particular items, gifts of money, and a residuary clause that covers everything else. The residuary clause often carries the largest share, yet people spend more time on the specific items. If a specifically bequeathed item has been sold or lost before death, the gift may simply fail, and the beneficiary may receive nothing in its place. When the estate is not large enough to pay every gift, some gifts are reduced before others, depending on the will's wording and the law. Clear drafting anticipates these changes rather than leaving them to the court.
When a beneficiary dies first
A bequest to someone who dies before you may pass to that person's children, go to others named in the will, or fall into the residuary estate, depending on the wording and on New York's rules for certain relatives. Many people intend one result while the default produces another. Naming backup beneficiaries for important gifts avoids the guesswork. Gifts to charities should identify the organization precisely, because charities merge and change names. Gifts to minors usually need someone to hold the property until the child is old enough to receive it.
Writing the will around your intentions
A first conversation covers what you want each person to receive and why, which helps us choose wording that survives later changes. We look at whether personal items should be listed in the will itself, keeping in mind that a separate list merely mentioned in a will is generally not binding in New York. We also check whether bequests match how your assets are actually titled, since a gift in a will of an account that has its own beneficiary designation may have no effect. The aim is a will that makes your intentions plain to an executor who cannot ask you what you meant.
