Something else you should consider is an Enduring Power of Attorney - a living will. This will allow people to act on your behalf when you are incapacitated.
If you are under age 40 I wouldn’t argue with you either way. Over 40? I’m with DrDeth. "Write a holographic will. In most states this just is a 100% handwritten will that sez “Last Will” “All my stuff to DrDeth”. Signed, dated.
It’s easy, free and provides a way to specify things beyond your financial state. Just make sure people know where to find it.
Both of these have been addressed in the thread already. But thanks. 
In related news, Facebook has added a feature that lets users control what happens to their account after they die.
Misnomer, and others… Almost everything you have can and should be payable upon death to whomever, or with a direct beneficiary. You don’t want anything passing through probate in a will(as then creditors will get a crack at it). All property should be held as tenants in common with someone. All bank accounts should be payable upon death to someone. All insurance policies with a specified beneficiary, etc…
Wills are good for two types of things: specific bequests of personal items (with little monetary value), or to dictate what happens to dependents. For example, “I want Nana’s painting in the hall to go to cousin Suzy.” Or, “the kids will go to Aunt Mary.” That’s it.
Nitpick: the details of this depend on state law.
In my state (Kansas), e.g., the surviving spouse and minor children would have first crack at that $10K, then the funeral home (“the expenses of an appropriate funeral in such amount as was reasonably necessary”), then the bills for the final illness and the bills of the executor/administrator, then creditors whose demands were reduced to judgment before the death. Unsecured creditors come way down the list.
(The presence or absence of a will doesn’t change this pecking order. However, a payable-on-death account is never part of the estate, and therefore in many states the creditors are SOL.)
This is funny because I have a necklace that was my grandmother’s, and this thread made me realize that I should take steps to ensure that it goes to my cousin Sue…who went by “Suzy” when she was young.
Another thing that wills do is designate an executor (and a backup in case they can’t do it or are already dead). The bank is not going to pay on death if no one ever sends them a copy of the death certificate. As long as there’s no argument, of course, a person could be designated informally.
My dad died without a will, owning a home, with about $150K in the bank. It was not a problem, because us kids agreed just to divide it up equally, and Illinois inheritance law said the same thing.
Seriously, the only reason for you to have a will now is that it might save your heirs from the hassle of squabbling over your estate, like who becomes (or gets stuck with being) the executor. An executor can charge your estate a reasonable amount for the time spent doing all the stuff, that is assuming there is anything left after paying your debts.
However, no one in your family has to be the executor, if none of them want to the court will eventually appoint somebody to distribute the assets.
If you die without a will, the settling of your estate will be assigned to a lawyer by the probate court. That lawyer will probably use up all your spare change before it can get passed to your mom (or whomever). You could make the process much easier and less expensive for your mom by leaving a will.
To answer this: no, you will not have to make a new will if circumstances change. The will usually does not say “$10 to mom” it usually says “remaining financial assets to mom”. So if you hit your numbers on the lotto you don’t have to change your will.
The only change would be if you change your mind about who your stuff goes to. Right now if you die, who your stuff goes to will be decided by some faceless lawyer appointed by the state. Much better to at least have someone that cares about your stuff decide what happens to your crap, even if most of it ends up as a Goodwill donation.
I’m starting to see the value of at least a holographic will, even if the only thing I want to protect is who gets grandma’s necklace.
But my point was that right now I don’t have any spare change. There’s nothing for anyone to use/take/inherit.
(Wow, this thread makes me sound like a lonely old maid who’s really bad with money…c’mon, fellas, who’s up for a date?? :D)
You might not have spare change, but I imagine you have a bed, clothes, TV etc. If you die intestate that might all end up going for firesale to pay the lawyers, as opposed to letting a friend of yours decide whether it should go to someone or get sold or what.
I already said that now I’m seeing the value of at least a holographic will, and my comment about not having any spare change was in response to someone else. Who are you arguing with?
My wife’s an estate attorney. Her standard comment runs about like this:
Truly, nobody *needs *a will; by the time it takes effect you’re dead & don’t care. What you *need *are the rest of the documents like living wills, powers of attorney, etc., that other people will use to care for you when you can’t care for yourself.
Having said that, there are a *lot *of reasons why somebody might *want *a will. If nothing else, the exercise of creating one using the services of an expert will bring out a lot of topics you may never have considered. Cheapo DIY wills software may or may not give you the education that meeting with an expert will. You may discover you have more reasons to really want one than you thought.
Smart planning, will or no, includes setting beneficiaries on all assets, checking accounts included. The goal is to get as much of your money out of the estate and into the hands of the still-living as quickly and as painlessly as possible. This also generally bypasses creditors’ claims on the assets. Most financial assets and real estate can be handled this way.
The next value is in appointing an executor and a couple of alternates, and ensuring they know about it in advance. Even if you live in a rented furnished apartment and only own a few possessions, somebody still needs to be empowered to dispose of your crap and close out the apartment lease. For folks of limited assets (regardless of income) this is the biggest benefit of a will. You’re not helping yourself (wills never do), but you’re helping people you care about to not be left thinking you’re a real douche by dropping this unplanned mess in their lap.
After that the remaining benefits of a will decline rapidly for someone with few assets and little family.
It would have taken less time to make a holographic will than make this thread.
I’m not really arguing with you, just supplying more data.
And in my state at least, a holographic will would do you zero good. (In virginia, I see, they are valid).
It took me about 20 minutes to make this thread (i.e., type and post the OP). I highly doubt I could handwrite a will in less time.
This is my last will and testament. I, Misnomer, appoint _________ as my executor to pay my debts out of my estate and then pay whatever is left to _________ and _________ and _________ in equal shares* (or however you want to divvy things up after your debts are paid, e.g. my cat to Fred and whatever is left to Wilma and Betty in equal shares per stirpes)*. (signature) (date)
Hope that helps until you have an opportunity to have a regular will prepared. Remember, with a holographic will, it must be entirely in your own handwriting, with no other writing or printing/typing on the page.
Yeah, I didn’t need to know how to make a holographic will/what it should say. The process of writing something by hand takes time: you said it would take less time to make a holographic will than to make this thread, but it took 20 minutes for me to type and post the OP while it would take longer than that to write out a will. Was my point.