When creating an estate plan, it’s natural to want every detail to feel personal and perfectly tailored. You may notice certain clauses in your Trust or Will that can’t be removed or edited, and wonder why. We’re happy to explain how these provisions work and why they’re included.
Why doesn’t Trust & Will allow custom legal language?
At this time, Trust & Will doesn’t offer custom edits to the legal language in our estate planning documents. That’s because estate plans are highly interconnected. Each section relies on definitions, legal terms, and instructions found elsewhere in the document.
Making changes to one part of the plan can unintentionally:
Conflict with other sections of the document
Change how a clause is interpreted under state law
Create ambiguity that makes the document harder to follow or enforce
Lead to outcomes that weren’t originally intended
Our documents are carefully designed to work together as a complete legal plan, helping ensure clarity and consistency for you and your loved ones.
Why is the 120-hour survivorship clause included?
One commonly asked-about provision is the 120-hour survivorship requirement, which states that a beneficiary must survive you by at least 120 hours (five days) in order to inherit under your estate plan.
This clause is widely used in estate planning and serves a very practical purpose: it helps simplify estate administration if multiple people pass away close in time.
For example, imagine two spouses are involved in the same accident. One passes away on Monday, and the other passes away shortly after on Tuesday. Without a survivorship requirement, assets might need to be transferred multiple times: first into the surviving spouse’s name, and then again to their beneficiaries. This can create delays, extra paperwork, and additional costs for the estate.
The 120-hour rule helps avoid this “double transfer” and allows assets to pass more smoothly and directly to the intended beneficiaries.
Can this clause be removed?
Because our documents are standardized, required legal provisions, like the survivorship clause, cannot be removed or customized within the platform. These clauses are intentionally included to help protect your estate plan from unnecessary complications.
What if my situation is unique?
If you feel a particular clause doesn’t fit your personal circumstances or you’d like more customized language, we recommend working with a licensed estate planning attorney. An attorney can:
Review your specific goals and family situation
Draft custom language tailored to your needs
Ensure the document remains legally consistent and enforceable
Trust & Will also offers Attorney Support, which can help you explore whether a more customized approach is right for you. Please note that our attorneys cannot draft custom language into your documents. We recommend going through a local attorney for highly customized documents.
Need Help?
If you have questions about listing your accounts or organizing your Estate Inventory, our friendly Member Support team is always happy to help.