Complex Will with Trust - Virginia

Last Will and Testament with Family Trust

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], of [ADDRESS, VIRGINIA], being at least 18 years old and of sound mind, make this Will and revoke my prior wills and codicils.

1. Family

My spouse is [SPOUSE FULL NAME OR NONE]. My children now living are [NAMES AND DATES OF BIRTH OR NONE]. "My descendants" includes my children born or legally adopted after I sign and their descendants.

2. Executor and specific gifts

I nominate [EXECUTOR NAME, ADDRESS] as executor, or, if that person cannot or will not serve, [SUCCESSOR EXECUTOR NAME, ADDRESS]. I waive the security requirement for each executor nominated in this Will, except where Virginia law requires security or surety. This waiver does not dispense with any bond required for qualification. The executor may collect estate property, pay legally enforceable debts and proper administration expenses, sell or transfer property as needed, employ advisers, and distribute the estate under this Will, subject to fiduciary duties.

After those obligations, I make these specific gifts; write "NONE" where no gift is intended:

A specific gift with no surviving recipient or alternate becomes part of the residue.

3. Residuary gift and creation of trust

I give all the rest of my estate, wherever located and of every kind, to [TRUSTEE NAME], as trustee of the [FAMILY TRUST NAME] established by this Will (the "Family Trust"), to be held and distributed under Sections 4 through 7. If neither my spouse nor any descendant survives me, I instead give the residue outright to [FINAL BACKSTOP PERSON OR ORGANIZATION, WITH ADDRESS].

The Trustee shall keep trust property separate from personal property and carry out the duties stated here. My spouse and descendants are the beneficiaries as described below. The trust receives property only through this Will; it does not claim to hold property that passes outside my estate.

4. Spouse's lifetime interest

If my spouse survives me, the Trustee may distribute income and principal for my spouse's health, education, maintenance, and support, considering other resources known to the Trustee. The Trustee may pay my spouse or a provider directly. The spouse's interest ends at the spouse's death. If my spouse does not survive me, this Section does not apply and the Trustee moves directly to Section 5.

Nothing in this Will purports to waive a surviving spouse's statutory elective-share rights.

5. Descendant shares and staged distribution

After my spouse's death, or at my death if my spouse did not survive me, the Trustee shall divide the remaining trust property into equal shares for my children then living and for the descendants of any deceased child, with that deceased child's descendants together taking the share the child would have taken, by representation. If no descendant is then living, the Trustee shall distribute the balance outright to [FINAL BACKSTOP PERSON OR ORGANIZATION, WITH ADDRESS].

The Trustee shall hold each descendant's share separately. Until the share is fully distributed, the Trustee may pay income or principal for that descendant's health, education, maintenance, and support. The Trustee shall distribute one-third of the original share when the beneficiary reaches [FIRST AGE], one-half of the then remaining balance at [SECOND AGE], and all of the remainder at [FINAL AGE]. These ages must increase in order. If a beneficiary has already passed a stated age when the share is funded, the Trustee shall make the corresponding distribution as soon as practicable.

If a beneficiary dies before receiving all of a separate share, the remaining balance goes to that beneficiary's descendants who survive the beneficiary, by representation; if none, to the other descendant shares then existing in proportion to their balances; if none, outright to [FINAL BACKSTOP PERSON OR ORGANIZATION, WITH ADDRESS].

6. Trustee and powers

The first Trustee is [TRUSTEE FULL NAME, ADDRESS]. If that person cannot or will not serve, [SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE FULL NAME, ADDRESS] shall serve. A successor shall accept in writing and receive the trust records and property. No person shall be sole trustee and sole beneficiary of a share while that share remains in trust.

The Trustee may retain, invest, sell, exchange, lease, insure, and manage trust property; employ advisers; and distribute property in cash or in kind, subject to the trust's purposes, fiduciary duties, and Va. Code § 64.2-777. The Trustee shall keep records and give beneficiaries the information and reports required by Va. Code § 64.2-775. The Trustee is entitled to [FEE METHOD OR "NO FEE"] and reimbursement of proper administration expenses.

7. Spendthrift and remaining terms

Except as law otherwise permits, a beneficiary may not voluntarily or involuntarily transfer an undistributed interest in the Family Trust, and a creditor or assignee may not reach the interest or a distribution before receipt. This restriction applies to both voluntary and involuntary transfers.

Virginia law governs this Will and the Family Trust. If one term cannot operate, I intend the remaining terms to apply to the extent consistent with this plan.

8. Guardian of a minor child

For any minor child who needs a guardian of the person after my death, I appoint [GUARDIAN NAME, ADDRESS]; if that person cannot or will not serve, I appoint [SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN NAME, ADDRESS]. This appointment does not displace a living parent who is fit and proper to have custody. The child's trust share is managed by the Trustee, rather than by the guardian merely because the guardian has custody.

9. Signature and attesting witnesses

I sign this Will on [__/__/____] at [CITY OR COUNTY, VIRGINIA]. The two witnesses are present together while I sign or acknowledge my signature, and each signs in my presence.

Testator signature: ______________________________

Printed name: [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

We are competent witnesses. The testator signed or acknowledged this Will in our joint presence, and each of us subscribes it in the testator's presence.

Witness 1 signature: ______________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Printed name: [NAME] Address: [ADDRESS]

Witness 2 signature: ______________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Printed name: [NAME] Address: [ADDRESS]

Optional self-proving affidavit (Va. Code § 64.2-452)

The testator and both attesting witnesses, after being duly sworn before the officer below, state: The testator declared this document to be the testator's Will and signed it willingly, or directed another to sign, in the witnesses' presence. Each witness saw the testator execute or acknowledge the Will, subscribed it in the testator's presence and at the testator's request and in the other witness's presence, and believes the testator was over 18 and of sound and disposing mind and memory at execution.

Testator signature: ______________________________

Witness 1 signature: ______________________________

Witness 2 signature: ______________________________

Commonwealth of Virginia, [CITY OR COUNTY]. The testator and witnesses personally appeared before me and are known to me as the persons signing above. Subscribed, sworn, and acknowledged before me by the testator, and subscribed and sworn before me by the witnesses, on [__/__/____].

Officer signature: ______________________________

Official capacity: [NOTARY PUBLIC OR OTHER AUTHORIZED OFFICER]

Commission expiration, if applicable: [__/__/____]

Registration number, if applicable: [NUMBER]