Walk It Through: The Papers at the Kitchen Table
A will with two witnesses, a living will, a health care agent, and a power of attorney for the bank.
A couple sits down to sign wills they wrote themselves, with two neighbors as witnesses.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Documents signed by a married couple at home. Trusts, a will made in another state, and revoking any of these documents are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Elective shareThe share of an estate a surviving spouse of a married person domiciled in Iowa may choose to take, whatever the will says.
- Self proved willA will made provable without calling the witnesses, by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before a notary.
- Attorney in factThe person a durable power of attorney for health care names to make health care decisions, when the document explicitly authorizes it.
- DeclarationA competent adult's signed and dated direction that life sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn, effective only if the condition is terminal and the person cannot make treatment decisions.