History & SocietyScience & TechBiographiesAnimals & NatureGeography & TravelArts & CultureGames & QuizzesVideosOn This DayOne Good FactDictionaryCompanionsDemystifiedImage GalleriesInfographicsListsPodcastsSpotlightSummariesThe ForumTop Questions#WTFact100 WomenBritannica KidsSaving EarthSpace Next 50Student Center
Britannica Money
Subscribe Now
Table of Contents

Do I need a will? It’s about more than just your assets

Here’s what to consider.
Written byColin Dodds
Colin Dodds
Colin Dodds is a writer, editor and filmmaker who has worked with some of the biggest companies in media, technology and finance including Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab and Bank of America.
Fact-checked byDoug Ashburn
Doug Ashburn
Doug is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst who spent more than 20 years as a derivatives market maker and asset manager before “reincarnating” as a financial media professional a decade ago.
Table of Contents
Cropped shot of a senior couple meeting with a consultant to discuss paperwork at home
Open full sized image
A will can be a straightforward template, or it can be complex, depending on your estate.
© shapecharge—E+/Getty Images

You may wonder if you need a will. If you’re like many people, you may have been wondering for a while now. People often put it off. It’s not fun to think about your own death, and the process of making a will involves research and costs money.

How much money you spend getting your will in place depends on how complex your finances are and how many heirs you want to leave your assets to.

Key Points

  • A will lays out what should happen to your belongings after you’ve passed away.
  • A basic will can be inexpensive—even free—but a complex estate should be drawn up with the assistance of an attorney.
  • Even if you have only a few assets, a will can help the people and organizations you care about.

You don’t necessarily need a lawyer, but most people hire one to draft and certify a will. This can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on the size and complexity of your estate. There are also inexpensive services and even free templates online that can help you create the will yourself. But you’ll have to find (and perhaps pay) a notary public to complete the process.

If you’re wondering whether you need a will, then you probably do. And if you’re not wondering, perhaps you should.

What a will does

In its simplest form, a will is a legally binding plan for what happens to your possessions after you die. It lays out who gets what. It also names an executor, the person who’s responsible for passing your belongings on to the people or organizations you’ve named.

Most wills are more complex than that. They might specify where the proceeds will go if your primary and secondary beneficiaries die before you do. A will may also include instructions for who will care for your children if both parents die, and how those caregivers will be compensated. It may also include instructions for when, and under what conditions, specific heirs are to receive their portion of your estate.

What a will doesn’t do

Although a will is an important document in directing what happens to your property after you die, it doesn’t overrule your spouse’s joint ownership of assets that you own in common, such as a home. If you co-own a company, the company’s founding contract will likely have stipulations that will overrule your will.

A will also won’t overrule a beneficiary designation on a 401(k), an insurance policy, or a bank account that establishes where those assets would go at your death. Any “payable-on-death” or “transfer-on-death” designations on a bank account or other account will overrule anything that contradicts them in your will. So, it’s important to regularly review and update those documents.

There are other documents you may have in place that may supersede language in your will:

  • Health care proxy (also known as health care power of attorney). This directive spells out health care issues and allows others to make medical decisions on your behalf.
  • Financial power of attorney. This gives someone you trust the ability to make financial decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated.

If you’ve gone through your estate planning checklist, you’ll have these directives in force in addition to your will.

Common reasons to get a will

  • A will ensures your property will go to people you care about.
  • It makes the difficult period after your death less stressful for your loved ones.
  • It can eliminate painful family arguments about who gets what after you’ve gone.
  • It’s one last chance to communicate with the people and institutions that matter to you.

If given the choice, most of us wouldn’t want our lasting legacy to be that we planted the seeds of family disharmony or chaos over the dispensation of our assets. A will can help you sidestep some of these issues.

You probably need a will, even if …

You have no assets to leave anyone. Maybe that’s the case now, but life is unpredictable. You may be sitting on some rare collectible. Or you may be killed in an accident where your heirs can sue for significant damages.

You have no one to leave the money to. If you have no heirs and no will, then your estate will go to the government, which will try to find someone related to you. With a will, you can at least leave the money to a charity, school, or institution of your choosing.

It seems expensive and/or time-consuming. A simple Internet search will lead you to dozens of free templates. Within minutes, you can have a basic will set up. And once you get it signed and notarized, it will be in force.

The bottom line

If the questions raised by a will are of interest to you, then you probably should get one in place. You likely have people or organizations in your life you’d like to leave things to. And you probably have possessions and assets you believe are too valuable to be left to chance.

To make a will, you need a little time and a little money, but it’s not a difficult legal document to create.