Do Beneficiaries Have The Right To See A Will?
Do beneficiaries have the right to see your will or your trust? What do you think? So, the answer is no and yes.
While you’re alive and well, the answer is no. The answer is clearly no. If you’re alive and well, and you’re watching this video, the answer is no. The biggest reason the answer is no is because you can make changes anytime you want. They have no legal vested interests, have no vested rights to see something that they have no irrevocable rights to.
You can change it like that. And you can kind of dangle a carrot and say – “I’m gonna to change my will, ha ha ha.” But when you pass away and even arguably if you become incapacitated. Certainly, when you pass away and you’ve named them in there, they have a right to see what it says.
If you get a dollar and I give you nothing else, they have a right to see that. If you’ve given them a fixed dollar amount, say you said you’re going to get a thousand dollars. They have a right to see that language, but not the rest of it. Maybe a couple of other provisions, a couple of other pages. They can see that piece. They may not be entitled to see the rest of it.
But if you’ve said in there, that it goes equally to your three kids, or “I split it in these percentages among the seven of you,” or whatever, all of those final beneficiaries, are entitled to see the whole thing. The law says they need to have enough information to protect their rights. Their rights can only be figured out if they can see what the whole document says because if they’re getting a percentage, they need to be able to see what is the whole, right?
You can’t figure out how much you’re going to get, how much the 10% is unless you know what the dollar value of the whole thing is. So, those ultimate beneficiaries, they’re allowed and they are required. If you’re a trustee, you’re an executor, they’re required to share with them the whole copy. That’s the law.
Summary
While you are alive, your beneficiaries do not have the right to see your will. However, after your passing, beneficiaries are entitled to see the document to protect their rights and understand their share. The explanation behind this is that they lack any legal interest in seeing something for which they hold no irreversible rights.
Do beneficiaries have the right to see your will or your trust? What do you think? So, the answer is no and yes.
While you’re alive and well, the answer is no. The answer is clearly no. If you’re alive and well, and you’re watching this video, the answer is no. The biggest reason the answer is no is because you can make changes anytime you want. They have no legal vested interests, have no vested rights to see something that they have no irrevocable rights to.
You can change it like that. And you can kind of dangle a carrot and say – “I’m gonna to change my will, ha ha ha.” But when you pass away and even arguably if you become incapacitated. Certainly, when you pass away and you’ve named them in there, they have a right to see what it says.
If you get a dollar and I give you nothing else, they have a right to see that. If you’ve given them a fixed dollar amount, say you said you’re going to get a thousand dollars. They have a right to see that language, but not the rest of it. Maybe a couple of other provisions, a couple of other pages. They can see that piece. They may not be entitled to see the rest of it.
But if you’ve said in there, that it goes equally to your three kids, or “I split it in these percentages among the seven of you,” or whatever, all of those final beneficiaries, are entitled to see the whole thing. The law says they need to have enough information to protect their rights. Their rights can only be figured out if they can see what the whole document says because if they’re getting a percentage, they need to be able to see what is the whole, right?
You can’t figure out how much you’re going to get, how much the 10% is unless you know what the dollar value of the whole thing is. So, those ultimate beneficiaries, they’re allowed and they are required. If you’re a trustee, you’re an executor, they’re required to share with them the whole copy. That’s the law.
Summary
While you are alive, your beneficiaries do not have the right to see your will. However, after your passing, beneficiaries are entitled to see the document to protect their rights and understand their share. The explanation behind this is that they lack any legal interest in seeing something for which they hold no irreversible rights.
