Wills are great tools that will allow you to divide your assets and estate as you deemed fit after you have died. However, there are limits as to what a will can do. There are certain provisions that simply are not legally possible. Read on, and discover some of the limits of a will. If you plan on drafting a will, it might be in your best interest to hire an attorney who specializes in trusts. He or she can help you avoid some of the pitfalls listed.

Leave Assets To Your Pets

The simple fact of the matter is you have to be able to have the legal status to own property to be able to inherit it. Pets do not qualify as beings who are able to own property. You can, however, treat your pet as a form of property. As such, you can leave your pet to someone you believe can care for him or her, or otherwise provide him or her with a good home.

Certain Kinds Of Property Cannot Be Transferred

There are certain kinds of property that a will cannot transfer. A few examples of these types of property include cash that is present in a bank account that is payable upon death, joint tenancy property, property that is held in beneficiary form (which may include bonds and stocks), any property for which you've made provisions for in a living trust, pension plan cash (this is due to the fact that you have already named a beneficiary on the forms associated with the pension plan), and finally, any money that is being transferred to a beneficiary of a life insurance plan.

Special Needs Beneficiary Care

You will not be able to provide care for a beneficiary with special needs through your will. A more robust manner of establishing care for a beneficiary with special needs is through a trust. There are numerous types of special needs trusts that you can establish that will make provisions for your loved one.

Leave Behind Funeral Instructions

You can't leave behind funeral instructions in your will. This is not a legal provision, but rather a practical one. Provisions for funerals are made shortly after a loved one's death. The reading of a will does not occur until quite a bit after you or your loved one has passed – sometimes even weeks. By the time the will is read, the funeral will have already taken place. Contact a business, such as the Wright Law Offices, PLLC, for more information about how to proceed with drafting a will.