- The most common reason to make a will is to decide who will get your property when you die. Without a will (or other plan, like a living trust), your state laws determine how your property will be distributed—usually to your closest relatives, like your spouse, children or parents.
- After you die, someone needs to execute your estate. You can use your will to name a personal representative to take on this task. Without a will, a court will appoint someone if necessary.
- A will is the only place to nominate a guardian to care for your children. If you die without a will, a court will decide who should care for your kids. If you have a specific person in mind you may need to have a will.
- You can use your will to name a trusted caretaker for your pet. You can also leave money to that person to help him or her care for your pet. You can also have a pet trust so that the money allotted for your pet will transfer with the pet if ownership of the pet changes. Also, the trustee of the pet trust must keep an account of expenditures so that money is only used for the care of the pet.
- You need a will even if you have a living trust and don’t need to name guardians for children or pets. Called a pour-over will, it provides a catch-all for any property that isn’t taken care of by your living trust or other estate planning device. It will take care of any property that was not transferred into your living trust: acquired after your living trust was executed and not transferred into trust, transferred incorrectly to your living trust, or just forgotten about.
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