Complex Will with Trust

ARKANSAS COMPLEX WILL AND TESTAMENTARY TRUST — PLANNING PACKET

NOT A WILL — DO NOT SIGN, WITNESS, NOTARIZE, OR RELY ON THIS PACKET AS A TESTAMENTARY INSTRUMENT. Use it to investigate the client, assets, family, transfer system, fiduciaries, tax and benefit concerns, and trust design before counsel prepares a separate operative will and any companion documents.

1. Matter control

2. Capacity, intent, and process record

Counsel should conduct and document an individualized process. This packet supplies no capacity finding or execution script.

3. Current-authority register

Record current official authority, operative version, effective date, and the resulting drafting instruction. Do not copy execution or trust clauses from another state.

Research completed by and date: [________________________________]

Open legal questions: [________________________________]

4. Family and relationship map

Review expressly:

☐ Current spouse or partner

☐ Former spouse or partner

☐ Children and descendants

☐ Adopted, step, foster, or functional family

☐ Person conceived or born through assisted reproduction

☐ Minor or protected adult

☐ Dependent or support recipient

☐ Estranged, missing, deceased, or disputed relative

☐ Caregiver, advisor, fiduciary, witness, drafter, or person in a confidential relationship

☐ Charitable, religious, educational, community, or other organization

Class-definition instructions: [________________________________]

5. Asset, title, and liability inventory

Title, deed, agreement, statement, or valuation files reviewed: [________________________________]

6. Transfer-system reconciliation

A will may not control every asset. Reconcile the operative will with every existing transfer path.

Review:

☐ Revocable and irrevocable trusts

☐ Joint, survivorship, community, marital, or tenancy title

☐ Payable-on-death or transfer-on-death arrangements

☐ Retirement, insurance, annuity, and employee-benefit designations

☐ Business agreements, buy-sell terms, operating agreements, and transfer restrictions

☐ Deeds, mortgages, leases, mineral, water, farm, and out-of-state property

☐ Divorce, separation, support, premarital, postmarital, or settlement documents

☐ Charitable commitments, donor agreements, pledges, and restricted gifts

☐ Digital-platform and custodian transfer tools

Conflicts and corrective actions: [________________________________]

7. Gift and beneficiary design

7.1 Specific gifts

7.2 Residuary plan

7.3 Exclusions and disputed expectations

Person or asset intentionally excluded: [________________________________]

Reason and documentation strategy: [________________________________]

Prior gift, loan, advancement, support, or equalization issue: [________________________________]

8. Testamentary trust design

Do not use “family trust,” “credit shelter,” “special needs,” “spendthrift,” “education,” or another label as a substitute for complete dispositive terms and current-law review.

9. Fiduciary and nominee selections

Bond, compensation, professional-fiduciary, residency, institution, or licensing issue: [________________________________]

10. Expenses, debts, taxes, and administration

11. Companion-document plan

12. Operative-will drafting outline

Transfer only counsel-approved instructions into a separate operative document.

13. Execution-ceremony plan

Do not use this section as an execution script until counsel enters the current requirements.

14. Final reconciliation

☐ Current Arkansas authority and amendment activity checked

☐ Client identity, domicile, capacity process, and independent instructions documented

☐ Family, spouse, descendants, dependents, and omitted-person risks reviewed

☐ Assets, debts, title, beneficiary designations, trusts, and contracts reconciled

☐ Every gift, class, substitute recipient, survivorship term, and exclusion approved

☐ Every testamentary trust has complete funding, distribution, fiduciary, remainder, tax, and termination terms

☐ Fiduciaries and nominees reviewed for authority, qualification, conflicts, willingness, bond, and compensation

☐ Tax, benefits, creditor, business, property, digital, and special-asset issues assigned to qualified reviewers

☐ Companion documents and transfer changes completed or calendared

☐ Operative will compared with this packet and all schedules

☐ Execution ceremony and original custody approved by Arkansas counsel

15. Signature hold

This packet is not a will or trust and should not be signed as one.

Operative will file or version: [________________________________]

Prepared by: [________________________________]

Approved by Arkansas counsel: [________________________________]

Execution date, only after completion: [__/__/____]

Schedule A — Family and beneficiary map

[Attach the completed relationship, class, gift, and exclusion records.]

Schedule B — Asset and transfer-path inventory

[Attach the completed title, value, liability, beneficiary, trust, and contract reconciliation.]

Schedule C — Testamentary trust term sheet

[Attach one complete term sheet for each proposed trust or separate share.]

Schedule D — Authority and execution record

[Attach the current-authority register, ceremony instructions, and final execution memorandum.]

This template is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.