A BOOK ON U.S. APPLICABLE LAW
Deacon San Nguyen
WILL
Usually, Vietnamese people try not to talk about Death when they are still healthy and young. Indeed, it is hard to talk about Life Insurance or Will. In fact, most of sons and daughters feel uneasy when they are going to talk with their parents about writing a Will: they are afraid that their parents may think that their sons and daughters want them to be dead soon so that the children will inherit their parents’ prosperity. Between husband and wife, things happen the same if one of the two asks the other to sign a will.
Furthermore, some superstitious people believe that talking about signing a Will surely will bring death to them soon. All those above opinions about signing a Will are not completely unpractical or unwise. Sometimes, they are necessary to keep the whole relations within a family tightly. Vietnamese people have tendency to sacrifice some of their benefits to their family members. In case a parent dies, his of her survived family will find some way to share the deceased’s property peacefully among each other. Very few times, inheritors bring the issue of inheritance to Court for a judgment. That is why many Vietnamese immigrants try to avoid talking about Will or Life Insurance as much as possible.
However, there is one thing you should remember: Now, we are living in USA, not in our original country anymore. All of us already left our old country for the new life here. We need to follow and practice all traditions of Americans so that we will have a good future for us and for our next generations. One of the good things we need to do is planning a Will.
As you know, planning a Will is very practical and popular for people in this country. Living in this modern “melting pot” with many needs, we must be ready for anything that may happen anytime to us. Many people die of heart attacks or AIDS or some other illnesses that scientist still probe for a cure in vain. A number of people die while travelling by air or cars. In such accidents, if there is no any Will, many problems will happen to the survivors. The deceased’s properties will be under the protection of the Court until a settlement be made. Court fees and lawyer fee will be deducted directly from the properties of the passed away persons. The cost of a settlement by Court may be hundred times more than the fee for writing a Will. On the contrary, if there is a Will, the survivors will be living in peace waiting for sharing the inheritance without any interruption of a lawyer or a Judge.
Generally speaking, as many state laws stated: the property of a deceased will be divided into two parts: a half will go to the living spouse, another half will go to the children. If the children are still teenagers, the Court will decide who will represent the children to control the inherited properties until the children turn 18.
Thus, the best way to live in happiness is to sign a Will, regardless rich or not rich, small or big property. There are legal forms for Wills. It is not necessary to hire a famous lawyer to help plan a Will. Any lawyer can do that with a small fee.
For a conclusion, planning a Will is a Must for everyone living in this country. There were many complex cases in which spouses and children had to wait long time before a Court judgment was made. During that time, the survivors lived in hardship.
With Catholics who sincerely wish to be in Heaven with God after they are gone, signing a Will is also necessary for them because they will bring peace to their families and relatives. Signing a Will also avoids many problems that may turn the love ones in a family into many hateful groups.
