Most people do not think they need to prepare a will until later in life. However, you should write a will in order to appoint guardians for your minor children, and trustees to manage their property. If you do not leave a will, the court may appoint a guardian whom you would not have chosen. You also need to write a will in order to prevent minor children from inheriting real estate outright. Although minors have the legal capacity to own property, they do not have legal capacity to manage it.
If you don't have children, do you know what would happen to your property if you died without a will? If you and your spouse have no children, your parents or siblings might inherit part of your real property and become co-owners with your spouse. Your spouse would not be able to sell the house or other property without their permission, and vice versa. If you want to remember your parents or siblings in your will, it is best to leave them specific pieces of property that they will not have to share with your spouse. A will can accomplish this.
As you get older, wills need to be updated. If you have a large family and leave everything jointly to all your heirs they will have to manage all the property together. They may not live in the same state, or they may not be able to agree on what should be done with the property. The more heirs you have, the more money and effort they will have to spend trying to get organized. With a will, you could leave specific assets to specific heirs, or put one heir in charge as trustee for the others. Either way, writing a will would save your heirs significant hassle and expense. It could also prevent major feuding.
Joe E. Biesecker
Danielle DeAngelis
Irvin R. Sink
Roger S. Tripp