WRITING A WILL

Floberr wrote:

It has come to my attention that I must change the details of my will.  May I write it here with the help of a lawyer and have it honored legally in the U.S.?

It is unclear whether your Will would be intended to dispose of property in Ecuador, the U.S. or both.  Assuming the answer is "both," the qualifications for admitting a foreign Will to probate is a state-by-state analysis.  Most would permit it, assuming the requirements specified in their state laws are met.  An estates lawyer in the particular state in which you have property could provide your Ecuador lawyer on additional provisions required.  You would want to emphasize that you want a "self-proving" Will too - one which would not require the witnesses to the instrument to have to come to court to prove the authenticity of their statements as a condition to probating the Will.  And, I'd want an English version and a Spanish version for ease of probating in the respective jurisdictions. Personally, I'd do two Wills - one for Ecuador and one for the U.S.

A better solution (to skip probate entirely everywhere) is to create a Revocable Trust aka Living Trust that owns all your property.

"There is no question that you should have only one will that governs all of your legal affairs after death," according to family law specialist and partner at mdfamilylawyer.com Richard Granat ...

"Your single will should deal with the properties in different countries. 

"If you have two different wills, it could lead to a will contest."

Posted at the About Money website....

"A good U.S. estate-planning attorney will recognize that foreign properties (will) need to be addressed outside your U.S.-based estate plan.

"Therefore, you will need to meet with an attorney or other legal specialist who is familiar with the probate, trust, estate and tax laws of the foreign country where you own property.

"This will allow you to determine if your U.S.-based estate plan will pass muster in the foreign country or if you will need to create a separate will and other legal documents in the foreign country."

    -- Julie Garber, wills and estate planning specialist

Clearly, Ms. Garber's advice that two wills may be needed is directly opposite to Mr. Granat's advice that the two-will scenario could lead to a contested situation.

They may both be right!

Ultimately, you may have to weigh the possibility of a contested will against strict conformance with the estate laws in both countries.

SawMan's advice to do a trust and avoid probate may be sound ... or it may have similar complications.

Seems likely you will have to make a judgment call down the road.

cccmedia in Quito

Living trusts are easier to set up than Wills.

cccmedia: two Wills will not lead to issues if properly drafted and, IMO, better suited for multiple countries than a single Will.  Good luck.  Poor construction is always a problem mi amigo.

Dear Sawman,
Thank you for your very detailed answer to my question.  I'm here in Banos de Agua Santa.  Can you recommend anyone to help me with this??
Floberry

Floberr wrote:

Dear Sawman,
Thank you for your very detailed answer to my question.  I'm here in Banos de Agua Santa.  Can you recommend anyone to help me with this??
Floberry

I'm sorry, but I have no recommendation.

Asking for a specific referral such as a bi-lingual estate attorney right in Baños, pop. 21,000, is unlikely to turn up much in the way of results on this forum.

You can ask my attorney, Sebastian Cordero, to assist you in Quito or to make a referral closer to you.  scordero(at)gcabogados.com

cccmedia in Quito