It has to meet the requirements for being a legal, probate-able will in your “state of domicile” – i.e., where your legal U.S. residence is. This might mean notarization, or a specific number of witnesses who watch you sign it after you’ve told them it’s your will and who then sign as witnesses in front of each other. Check this out and meet the requirements; your public library or your local bar association may have the information available for free.
It’s customary to begin with the direction that your just debts and funeral expenses be paid; whether this is a legal requirement, I don’t know.
Appoint someone empowered to carry out the terms of the will ( called variously executor, administrator, etc., depending on the state). Name an alternate in case your first choice cannot or will not do the job (such as by being dead or comatose, or in a nursing home and senile).
It’s often important to specify explicitly who you’re leaving things to. “My wife” or “my mother” are relatively clear, but “my cousin Pooky” should be “my cousin Maribeth ‘Pooky’ Snopes, currently resident on Sartoris Road, in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi.” Also important is to define as clearly as possible any specific bequests that are in the form of objects. E.g., “My bedroom suite” should be “my ivory Queen Anne style Hemphill bedroom suite, consisting of bedstead, two bed tables, two dressers, and vanity table.”
List off specific bequests, i.e., things or money that you want to go to particular people. Make provisions for what happens if a specific bequest cannot be carried out. This can be as simple as “If any of the persons named as legatees of specific bequests in paragraphs #4 through #11 of this will should predecease me or die in a common mishap with me, the specific bequest designated for that person shall pass to my residuary estate, to be disposed of in accordance with paragraph #13.” Or you might want to add “or to his/her heirs” after naming the person.
Finish by defining what to do with the remainder of your estate that is not bequeathed in the specific bequests.
If there is paperwork involved in creating a trust of the sort you indicated, get that in place before finalizing the will. If the will itself will create the trust, make sure that you’ve met every legal requirement for doing so; this should probably involve a lawyer.
The most important thing about wills is that nobody (at least not without a cooperative medium ;)) can check with you to find out what the heck you meant by a given provision – and arguing about unclear provisions is a common human frailty that makes some lawyers rich. So be overwhelmingly explicit and specific – no one is going to critique your prose for unnecessary detail, but any ambiguity is an invitation to start an argument.
IANAL; the above is not legal advice. Consult a competent attorney licensed to practice in your state. And all the other disclaimers appropriate to this sort of post. It’s intended as helpful hints, not the last word on the subject.
