In Oregon, you must be eighteen or be married to make a will. You must also have the capacity or be ‘of sound mind.’ Whether you need a will depends on your circumstances.

A will controls (where assets in your name alone that do not have a beneficiary designation) go at your death. If you have beneficiary designations on all your assets, including bank accounts, a will might not be necessary.

As you get older, acquire more assets, get married, or have children you may need a will or trust to carry out your wishes about where you want your assets to go when you die. If you die without a will and have assets in your name alone that do not have beneficiary designations your probate estate would be distributed according to the laws of intestacy.

Once you turn eighteen you are considered an adult. This means your parents can no longer help you manage your finances or health care. You can plan for times when you may need help with your finances or health care by executing a Durable Power of Attorney and an Advance Directive for Health Care. A Durable Power of Attorney for finances allows you to designate someone you trust to conduct financial business for you in the event you cannot conduct your own financial business. An Advance Directive for health care allows you to appoint a health care representative to communicate your wishes if you cannot communicate with your health care providers.

An experienced estate planning attorney can help you understand what estate planning is appropriate for your situation and assist you with preparing these important documents. Contact the Estate Planning attorneys with the Law Offices of Nay & Friedenberg in Portland, Oregon at (503) 245-0894 to set an appointment.

If you would like to learn more about wills and other estate planning documents, click here to receive our FREE Legal/Financial Planning Guide.