Why It's Important to Have a Will

Despite the importance of a Will, at least 50% of Americans
don’t have one. *

If a Will is such an important document, why don’t more people have one?
Unfortunately, creating a Will forces you to come face to face with your own mortality—and dealing with death is difficult. But, it maybe more difficult for your loved ones after you are gone if you don’t prepare a Will.

A Financial Blueprint of Your Assets
A Will is an instrument, an extremely powerful instrument, you can useto distribute your probate assets to your loved ones after you are gone. (Probate assets generally refer to those assets in your name only that do not pass to another at your death by operation of law. ) Think of your Will as the financial blueprint of these assets. Your Will clearly states who will inherit your probate assets and when, as well as any conditions that must be met for them to receive your probate assets. At death, the court rules on the validity of your Will. If the Will is valid, the court instructs your executor to carry out the terms of the Will according to your wishes. (This act is known as a decree of probate.) The executor is the person appointed by you in the Will to supervise the distribution of your probate assets.

What are the Consequences of Not Having a Will?
According to Gerald Condon and Jeffrey Condon, authors of Beyond the Grave, without a Will, you increase the likelihood of conflicts, bitterness, and after-death disputes between your children and other family members.

Here’s how:
If you die without a valid Will, the court does not have your financial blueprint to follow. Therefore, it has no way of knowing how you wished to distribute your assets. By “dying intestate” you lose the ability to direct the distribution of your estate. The state where you lived steps inat your death and makes the decisions for you, according to the distribution schedule set forth in its intestacy statutes. The state’s decisions are designed to pass property tothose who would most benefit. Unfortunately, the state’s decisions may not conform to your wishes or to what is best for the people closest to you. Intestacy usually means outright payments. This can cause amultitude of problems and misunderstandings, not to mention tying up your assets in the probate process for months or years.

Common Misconceptions
Here are some of the more commonrationalizations for not creating a Will,
and the facts that quickly dispel those myths.

Myth: “My assets are so small that a Will is not necessary. ”
Fact: Think again. Few people are worth so little that a Will is not necessary. Add together the value of your home, car, furniture, jewelry, savings account, and investment portfolio. Subtract from this total your personal debts. The bottom line is that you are generally worth more than you think. Even if some items do not hold great monetary value, they could hold an enormous amount of sentimental value. Failing to indicate who receives these treasures in your Will can cause friction between family members that lasts for decades.

Myth: “When I die, my spouse Will get all of my assets. ”
Fact: If you and your spouse own assets jointly, at death your share of the assets will automatically go to the surviving spouse. But, what happens when your surviving spouse dies? What will your children receive? Does your spouse have the financial know-how to manage the family wealth? If your spouse remarries, some or all of your spouse’s assets may wind up in the hands of his/her new spouse.

*Meyer, Gene, “Power of the Will,” Kansas City Star, p. M10, Sept. 8, 2002.