The creation and periodic update of a will can prevent confusion and family strife, as evidenced recently by a land dispute filed in Warren Circuit Court.

According to the petition for partition, which involves 50 people, “a dispute has arisen … regarding the sale of the ownership, possession and division” of a tract of land on Eversole Drive in Warren County, which was acquired originally by J.J. and Elizabeth Burch in the 1920s.

The plaintiff, Ora Dee Staten, attempted to sell the property after paying expenses such as property taxes for several years. But she faced disagreement from some of the 49 other heirs, who also have a legal interest in the property. Staten, who is trying to settle the Burch estate in the absence of a will, now requests the land be partitioned and sold judicially by the Master Commissioner, according to the court record.

“She can’t file a settlement because there’s this property out there that needs to have something done with it,” Staten’s attorney, Mike Reynolds, said. “It would’ve been a lot simpler … if (Elizabeth Burch) had named Mrs. Staten the executor with the power to sell, this could’ve been avoided.”

Based on observation throughout his legal career, Reynolds estimated only about 40 percent of adults in America have wills.

“That causes things to happen after death that a person might not have thought about,” he said. “For instance, if you don’t have a will, the state will determine by statute who receives property and that may or may not be who you would’ve wanted, had you made a will. The courts will appoint a qualified administrator in the case of no will, but that may not be who you would’ve wanted to handle your estate.”

Kentuckians have the option of creating a holographic will, where a person writes, in their own handwriting, all the instructions for settling their estate. The person then signs and dates the will.

“You could have two witnesses and a notary if you wanted to, but generally these holographics are just where somebody wrote it and put it in a desk drawer,” Reynolds said, adding that Kentucky is one of only a few states that recognize such a will.

Although a holographic will is the cheapest option, getting it approved by a judge can be challenging and usually involves a handwriting expert to verify the will is not forged.

“If they follow all the steps under the law, it can be approved,” Reynolds said. “But a lot of times, we’ll see where someone took a marker or something and marked through it and that will kind of invalidate it because you don’t know if that person did it or someone else did it.”

Attorneys charge varying prices for assisting with will creations, but it can save a lot of headache in the long run. With that option, the so-called “self-proving wills” are generally signed in the presence of at least two witnesses and a notary public.

Warren Circuit Judge John Grise has seen several estate disputes similar to the one filed by Staten. In some cases, the person whose estate was in question actually had a will, but it wasn’t clear, or it was outdated and did not account for all of the person’s assets.

“I’ve seen family relationships break down over estate questions,” Grise said. “In order to make sure your wishes are carried out – and maybe even more importantly, to preserve peace within a family – the best way to do that is to make very clear in a will your decisions so there is not room later on to fight about it.”

– For more information about Kentucky’s laws regarding wills go to: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/KRS/394-00/CHAPTER.HTM.