If you’re like most Americans, you do not have a will, trust or another type of estate plan in place. According to AARP, approximately 60 percent of Americans lack any sort of estate plan. It may come as no surprise that the majority of those 60 percent are younger adults.
According to the source, a whopping 78 percent of millennials (ages 18 to 36) and 64 percent of Generation Xers (ages 37 to 52) do not have a will. However, no matter how old or young you are, it is wise to have a will, at the very least, in place. But why?
If you have any assets at all–whether those assets be as minimal as a vehicle and a savings account, or as significant as a home, fine art, jewelry, and a 401K–a will can help you dictate to whom those assets will go upon your death. Without a will, your assets will be distributed in accordance with your state’s intestacy laws, which may or may not be in line with your wishes.
However, not having a say in who gets what is not the only negative consequence of not having a will. According to Global News, dying without a will can leave a trail of unpaid bills, taxes and possibly courtroom battles behind for your loved ones to have to deal with. Here are just seven examples of what could happen if you pass away unexpectedly without a will in place:
1. Your Partner Gets Nothing
If you are in a common law relationship, your partner may not be entitled to any of your assets. In most states, only married persons are subject to states’ intestacy laws, which typically dictate that the spouse is the first beneficiary in the absence of a will.
2. Runaway Credit Charges
According to one Toronto estate planning attorney, “Death freezes your assets. [When you pass away without a will], no one is in charge of your estate.” Right now, that fact may not seem like an immediate danger to you. However, unless one is terminally ill or of old age, death is almost always unexpected. Should your death come as a surprise, your estate, which includes everything you own as well as your debts, will be left for your survivors to sort out. However, getting their hands on both assets and debts will be a necessary headache to your survivors.
For example, if you’re single, no one can just waltz into your apartment, start collecting your belongings and clean out your fridge. There are laws that prevent this from happening, and it can take weeks for your landlord to obtain the necessary permissions to allow family members to enter the apartment, during which time, you are still liable for rent.
Not only that, but death doesn’t stop your credit cards and other debts from accruing interest. Until your estate is sorted out, which can take months, your unpaid bills will continue to generate interest, which, of course, there will be no one to pay.
3. Family Feud
Without a proper will in place, and with several possible beneficiaries, your death may spark a family feud in which everyone feels entitled to everything. With a will, the estate’s executor can dole out assets in accordance with your wishes and therefore, alleviate the majority of the risk for a challenge. However, without that legal document in place, no one knows who gets what, so they all run to their separate lawyers for advice.
4. Your Spouse and Children Lose the Family Home
Per the United State’s intestacy laws, the entire estate of a deceased married person goes to that person’s spouse, even if the couple has children together. HOWEVER, if the deceased individual has a child or children with someone else, half of the estate will go to the surviving spouse and the other half split between the other children.
So, let’s say, for instance, that a deceased has two minor children with his or her surviving spouse and two children with another person. The estate is worth $500,000. The house alone is worth $350,000. The deceased’s children need to get paid regardless of what needs to be done to turn at least $250,000 worth of assets into cash or distributable assets. This means that the surviving spouse will be forced to sell the family home, and him or her and the surviving children to find somewhere else to live.
Matters become much more complicated when the deceased and his or her children’s other parent are not married but, for all intents and purposes, ARE together. Intestacy laws only account for married individuals, which means that, upon the person’s death, the partner will be left with nothing and the children will be given everything. Same goes for domestic partners–some states do not recognize domestic partnerships. If you live in a state that does not, your partner may receive nothing upon your death.
5. The Government Becomes Involved
Without a will in place, it is inevitable that the government will become involved. This is especially true if you have surviving children but your children do not have any surviving parents. If you have a guardian in mind whom you want to take over the caring and loving of your children, name that person in a will.
6. Your Possessions Go to the Very Wrong Person
According to basic intestacy laws, your assets will go to the following people, in the following order, when a will is not in place: surviving spouse, surviving children, surviving parents, surviving siblings, descendants of siblings (nieces and nephews) and finally, distant relatives (half to your mom’s side and half to your dad’s side).
Say you are single with no children and no surviving parents. You dislike your siblings for whatever reason, and would rather your estate go to your best friend, or even your nieces and nephews. This wouldn’t be possible without a will. Or, say that you love your siblings and their offspring but your parents disowned you. Your parents would be entitled to your estate before your siblings would be.
7. A Hefty Tax Bill
Alas, taxes do not stop after death. If anything, they seem to increase. In addition to having to pay your final tax return, you will also have to pay taxes on assets on which you still owe money. This may include your car, your vacation home and home improvements.
The government will tax you just as they would have done had you sold those assets at market value while you were still living. If any of your assets had increased in market value since you bought them, you will be taxed 50 percent of that value increase. With a will in place, taxes are deferred as assets pass directly to survivors.
Best Online Will Generators of 2019
Generally speaking, you should not create your final will online. This is especially true if you have a significant amount of assets. However, if you have few assets and children whom you want to ensure are protected in the event of your untimely death (untimely meaning, before you have a chance to sit down with an attorney to draft your final will and testament), you may be able to get away with making an online will. If you do go with the DIY route, try one of these top 3 rated online will generating software:
- Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer is the number one rated will generating software of 2019, as it’s secure, comprehensive and free so long as you can get your documents in order within a week. After the week free trial period, the cost is $39.95 a month until you complete and download your documents and cancel your subscription. It also comes with customer support and the ability to edit documents at any time. Downloads are available immediately after completing your documents.
- Legal Zoom: LegalZoom is slightly pricier, at $69. However, the fee is a flat fee, which you will only have to pay once. You can upgrade your standard will doc to a living will or power of attorney, etc. for a small fee. The software is easy to use and extremely secure. Documents, however, are not available immediately for download. You must wait four days after the completion of your docs to print them, which may be a good thing, as the review is done to ensure that your documents are legally binding within your state. The company also offers a $50 guarantee in the event that your will is contested. If you opt for the basic package, you can edit your will with ease within 30 days of finalizing it. However, you can extend the editing time to one year for an additional $80.
- Willing: Willing is free and user-friendly unless you have children, in which case it is still user-friendly, but it will cost you $49 to include guardians in the document. Additional upgrades come with an upcharge as well. Though this site is super easy to use, it is not as secure as RocketLawyer or LegalZoom, so should not be one you use unless you have minimal assets and no children. Though the site comes with live support, it does not offer attorney interaction, which the other sites do. However, unlike the other sites, you can make revisions as necessary and whenever you please, without having to pay additional fees.
Making a will doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. If you need a will but don’t have the funds to sit down with a real deal lawyer, take what measures you can to protect your estate and your loved one’s interests in it. Use one of the aforementioned sites to draft a DIY will today.
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