A gift is a specific asset that you wish to give to an individual or individuals. A specific gift could be real estate, jewelry, a piece of furniture, a car or some amount of money. You can leave a specific gift to an individual or to a charity.
You do not have to leave specific gifts. If you do not leave specific gifts everything will be left to whomever you named in the “Rest of My Assets” section. For example, if everything is going to your wife and then to your children, you do not need to leave each item that you own to a specific person unless you want someone other than your wife or your children to receive it. However, if you want a specific child to receive a specific item, you would leave it as a specific gift. You will have the opportunity to specify that the gift is only to be made in the event that your spouse is not living.