You plan for your children’s future, your retirement and your savings, so why not plan for your death?

Clerk of Superior Court Kathy Gainey said that’s one of the things she stresses most to people during speaking engagements — the importance of making a will.

“It’s important to make sure everything you’ve worked for goes to who you want it to,” Gainey said.

Gainey said it’s extremely important to make a will, especially if you have children so each one of them is treated equally.

“And if you have minor children, you can suggest guardianship, and the court looks at that,” Gainey said. “There are so many different reasons to write out a will.”

“The main reason I have a will, and I’ve had one since I was 28, is because I went through a divorce and I wanted to make sure everything went to my daughter,” Gainey explained.

She addressed the fact that some people have an aversion to writing a will because of superstition that they’re just preparing for something bad to happen to them.

“Years ago a woman didn’t even inherit from her husband unless he put it in the will, but that doesn’t happen anymore. You plan for your future, retirement, etc., death is inevitable and I’d like to know I’ve prepared for things to go where I want it.”

Gainey said a lot of people don’t know that you can also change your will at any time.

“It’s not written in stone,” she said.

“The greatest injustice parents do is to not have a will and executor and leave it up to the children to decide how to handle things,” Gainey said. “And in mixed homes, you often have a problem with children and step children.”

Gainey said for people who don’t want to go to an attorney to write a will, they don’t have to.

“You can do a handwritten will as long as it’s in your handwriting,” Gainey said. “It’s called a holographic will. The only requirement is that it’s written in your handwriting and if it’s typed, you have to have two people witness your signature.”

Gainey said she prefers to have three people witness the signature in the event one of the parties cannot be reached.

The handwritten will doesn’t have to be notarized it just has to be dated and signed by the person making the will.

“The only requirement in North Carolina is that the person writing the will is of sound mind when writing it and is 18 at the time it’s written,” Gainey said.

For those who would like to learn more about wills, the Legal Aid of North Carolina and Duke University are putting on a wills workshop at Richmond Community College in Hamlet March 11-12.

During the clinic, Duke law students and several local attorneys will prepare wills, power of attorney and power of attorney health care documents for free.

Kari L. Hamel, managing attorney for Legal Aid North Carolina that oversees six counties, including Richmond, said this is the first time this specific program has been offered in Richmond County.

Legal Aid offered the same program in Moore County previously, but used UNC law students and they completed more than 60 documents during the two-day program.

“It’s very meaningful when you use the program as community service and have the law students participating and the local attorneys,” Hamel said. “We gather a lot of resources for this program and feel privileged to have Richmond County in our six county service area.”

Hamel said during the project, the law students get as much as out of it, if not more, than the clients they serve.

“It’s meaningful to be a part of land loss prevention and making sure people’s wishes are followed,” Hamel said. “This is something we’ve provided before in a different way. Legal aid is income based, so this is helping people get access to a vital legal service at no cost.”

To attend you must call (919) 542-0475 to be screened and reserve a space. Legal Aid of North Carolina services are all based on income eligibility.

For more information call (919) 542-0475 or (800) 672-5834.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.