Albuquerque Mirror Image Will Lawyer

A mirror image will refers to a will that effectively duplicates another will, creating two nearly identical documents for two different people. Mirror image wills are often used by married couples who have relatively simple estates to manage.

Each will is likely to leave everything to a surviving spouse. It can also name contingent beneficiaries in the event that both spouses pass at the same time (or sufficiently close in time to one another).

Using a mirror image will arrangement can be highly preferable to similar options, such as a joint will or a mutual will. The people making their will (called testators) can also choose to make nearly identical wills, with some discrepancies based on their separate property and preferred beneficiary arrangements.

If you want to discuss your options for estate planning, you can meet with an Albuquerque mirror image will lawyer. During a confidential, no-obligation consultation, a lawyer can review the general details of your estate, listen closely to your goals, and recommend a mirror image will or another similar arrangement based on your unique situation.

Schedule a no-obligation case and estate plan review with New Mexico Financial Law when you call us at 505-503-1637 or contact us online.

Questions to Consider With an Albuquerque Mirror Image Will Attorney

Creating a mirror image will can simplify your will creation process. However, you are going to want to think carefully about the provisions you include in your mirror image will.

Because both wills closely reflect one another, any issues with one would be duplicated in the other.

Hiring an Albuquerque mirror image will lawyer can ensure that you are aware of best practices, so you can intentionally avoid some of the bigger mistakes or traps that can arise. 

Your Albuquerque mirror image will attorney can guide you and your spouse through will creation, step by step. In the process, they can help you consider how you might answer key questions like:

• Do you intend to leave 100% of your separate property to your spouse? If not, what items would you want to go to other beneficiaries? Does this arrangement align with your spouse’s personal wishes?
• If your spouse is no longer alive at the time of your death (including a scenario where you both die at the same time or around the same time), then who would you want to serve as your secondary beneficiaries? Do you and your spouse have the exact same people in mind to receive the exact same community assets? Or are there some differences between your preferred arrangements?
• Would you want different burial and remembrance arrangements if you died separately from your spouse, compared to if you died in close proximity to one another? For example, a spouse in an interfaith couple may want their funeral held at a synagogue if they died alone, but at an Episcopal church if they died together with their spouse.
• Do you currently have a living trust or intend to form one? Would you be interested in forming a testamentary trust, if not? Note that these can simplify the handling of your estate in many circumstances.
• Do you expect any big new life changes coming up, such as the sale of a family home, a spouse’s retirement, or the birth of a new grandchild? Would these changes greatly affect your current estate plans?
• Do both spouses want the same person to handle their estate as a personal representative (AKA an executor)? Or would you prefer someone different if you were to die but not your spouse?
• How would your mirror image will arrangements fit within your larger estate plans? For example, do you already have children or other loved ones listed as a backup beneficiary under your life insurance policies, retirement accounts, or other arrangements?
• Are you comfortable with both spouses having the legal right to independently change their mirror image will to a completely unique arrangement? If not, you may want to consider instead using a mutual will, joint will, or A-B trust.

While mirror image wills seem simple on their face, they can actually create a fair amount of complexity or confusion for certain families. In the worst case, someone may die and have arrangements that don’t reflect their wishes with 100% accuracy. 

The good news is that these wills can be changed at any time, adding flexibility to estate planning. This flexibility may not be available with other, more-rigid arrangements, like a joint will or mutual will. 

Talk to an Albuquerque mirror image will law firm to understand more about the opportunities, risks, strengths, and weaknesses of this estate planning strategy. You can then get started on taking your own unique approach.

This approach can include using wills that are similar but not completely identical, which often helps resolve many apprehensions or discrepancies between each spouse’s ultimate wishes for their estate.

What Is a Mirror Image Will? How Does One Work in Albuquerque?

A mirror image will is an informal way to refer to two wills that reciprocate one another’s beneficiary provisions in nearly identical ways. It’s because of this relationship that they may also be referred to as “reciprocal wills.”

In most situations, a mirror image will is going to name a surviving spouse as a primary beneficiary. The testator may also nominate other parties to receive certain separate property, such as a family heirloom. 

The mirror image will can also make arrangements designating a contingent beneficiary if the testator’s spouse is no longer surviving. For example, the will could state that the eldest child could inherit the family residence or that all surviving children would split the value of the property equally.

The other spouse’s will reflects the exact same arrangements. With this approach, the family’s estate can be handled in a consistent way, no matter who dies first.

Example of Mirror Image Wills

Let’s say there are two individuals in a hypothetical couple: Chris and Pat. Chris’s will leaves everything to Pat, except a collection of baseball cards Chris has had since they were 16. They want these cards to go to their son, James. 

Pat’s will leaves everything to Chris, except an antique silver tea set they inherited from their grandmother, which goes to their daughter, Helen.

Chris and Pat both agree that, if they were to die simultaneously, or if one survived the other and then died several years or months later, then their co-owned residence and a quarter of their estate would go to their daughter Helen. Their son James would receive the remainder value of the estate.

Accordingly, their wills both list Helen and James as contingent beneficiaries, in this manner.

What Are the Benefits of an Albuquerque Mirror Image Will?

There are a few primary advantages of a mirror image will that can make it advantageous for certain estates, especially in comparison to other, similar arrangements that often end up being much more restrictive.

Create Shared Arrangements That Satisfy Both Partners

Mirror image wills provide mutually agreed-upon arrangements for the estates of married couples (or other individuals with significantly co-mingled property). Because each spouse can reasonably know and understand what is in the other’s will, there are no arrangements that might unfairly factor in one spouse’s wishes over the other’s.

The arrangement is similar to mutual wills or a joint will. Under mutual wills, both spouses can include a provision that states that they cannot change or revoke their own will without the other spouse’s permission.

This arrangement can prevent a situation where a spouse overwhelmingly favors a specific beneficiary after another spouse’s death, contrary to what that spouse would have wanted. 

Using the above hypothetical couple for another example: if Chris wanted to split the estate 50/50 between their children but Pat wanted James to inherit everything at the expense of Helen, then these two wills are clearly not equivalent. Chris and Pat may decide to come to a compromise, giving Helen the house and James the majority of the rest of the estate, as outlined above.

They would then include provisions of their will “locking in” these arrangements, preventing one spouse from secretly rewriting their will to revert their instructions back to their preferred arrangement.

A joint will is a single document that combines two wills, often using the same provision where the will cannot be amended or revoked without the unanimous consent of both parties.

Non-Binding, Allowing for Flexibility and Preventing “Dead Hand Control”

The biggest drawback to a joint will or mutual will is that, once a spouse dies, the survivor’s will often cannot be amended or revoked.

Returning to the above scenario, if Pat and Chris created mutual wills and forbade either party from modifying or revoking their will without the other spouse’s consent, then once Pat died, Chris would be legally bound to give the family home to their daughter, Helen. Unless there was language allowing them to, Chris could not sell the home.

They may also be unable to significantly modify the property, such as by converting it into a rental property with multiple units.

The inability of a beneficiary to use their inherited property to the full extent of enjoyment or benefit that they wish is sometimes referred to as “dead hand control.” Even though the spouse is dead, the provisions and legal requirements enforced in the joint/mutual will ensure that the decedent’s wishes are preserved until the death of their surviving spouse.

As one might imagine, this arrangement can be quite limiting! It can also create legal and financial difficulties for the surviving spouse. Also, since the arrangement can play out over an extended number of years, there is the chance that neither child actually wants to inherit their former family residence anymore.

Fortunately, joint wills and mutual wills made in Albuquerque do not presuppose that unanimous consent among parties is required for the wills to be amended or revoked (NM Stat § 45-2-514).

Mirror image wills offer even more flexibility by making the requirement for the wills to reciprocate non-binding. Either spouse is free to amend their will or revoke it and make a new will at any time. 

This right is especially important after the death of a first spouse. The surviving spouse may end up completely reinventing their life, changing the nature of their estate and their relationship with beneficiaries named in a previous version of their will. 

The freedom and flexibility of mirror image wills ensure that either spouse can live their life to their fullest and select their own beneficiaries to inherit their estate, without feeling restricted by binding agreements they made in the past.

Mirror Image Wills Can Make Estate Management Easier (And Less Painful)

Another benefit of mirror image wills is that they almost always represent a compromise that reflects both spouses’ values and their love for their beneficiaries. Wills that use dramatically different arrangements can foster resentment, confusion, or heartache among beneficiaries.

For example, what if Chris and Pat both had children from a previous marriage but no children of their own? Each may want to only leave their property to their biological children and not their step-children. In this arrangement, it can make a dramatic difference in the outcome of inheritances depending on which spouse died first.

With a mirror image will arrangement, on the other hand, the beneficiaries can reasonably understand that — no matter what happened — they would be valued equally by both testators, regardless of which one died first.

Get Assistance Planning for Your Family’s Future With an Albuquerque Mirror Image Will Law Firm

Mirror image wills can provide an excellent starting point for estate planning. Couples with similar wishes for their estate often find it easier to agree upon arrangements that are nearly identical.

They can then customize these arrangements to their heart’s content, with the understanding that the outcome of their estate will be slightly different, based on who dies first.

Whether you are committed to having 100% mirrored wills or wills that are just substantially similar, our Albuquerque mirror image will law firm can assist you. Start building your estate plans and creating a mirror image will when you call 505-503-1637 or contact us online to schedule a no-obligation consultation today.