If you have assets that you want to protect, and you want to make sure they go to friends, family members or other loved ones based upon your wishes after your death, you need a will.

If you die without making a will, your property and any money or assets will be divided among others according to what your state’s “intestate” laws say. In general, the laws divide property among “close” relatives according to a specific formula.

This may be okay with you, but another problem with leaving assets behind without a will is that it generally takes a long, long time for the courts to sort out who gets what, so that your heirs must wait a long time for things to work their way through the courts. This is why it’s so important to leave a will even if you have relatively modest assets or if you’re young and think you’re going to live a long, long time.

Types of asset protection

Of course, you know a will is provided so that you can leave assets to people after death. However, if you wish, you can also plan for your incapacitation whereby someone else is going to need to handle your affairs for you, but where you are still physically alive.

A “will” is a document that specifically distributes assets to people after you’ve already died. A living revocable trust, by contrast, is a sort of “changeable will” that exists while you are still alive. You can appoint yourself the trustee of the trust while you are well and a successor in the event you become ill or incapacitated. This also makes it easier to distribute assets to beneficiaries without having to go through probate. In some cases, a living revocable trust may be preferable to an actual will, in which case you will need a lawyer to help you set this up.

Will you need a lawyer to help you draw up your will?

Most of the time, you’re not going to need to get a lawyer involved when you write your will. It’s perfectly acceptable to simply use one of the good software programs out there to construct the will for yourself. (In fact, this is what most lawyers do these days, too.) Simply address basic concerns like who you are going to leave your home and any other assets to in the event of your death, and specifically name who gets what. In addition, determine who will be guardians of any minor children, if applicable, and put that in your will, too.

You will need two witnesses

When you finish writing your will, you’ll need to sign it and have it acknowledged as your final will in front of two witnesses, who will have to sign it as well. That’s enough for most people who need wills. This gives you a final, binding document that will divide your assets the way you want them to be divided.

When should you consult a lawyer?

In some cases, it IS a good idea to get a lawyer to help you make sure your will is complete (or when a revocable trust might be a better option). Now, here again, you probably aren’t going to need a lawyer for the WHOLE process. Instead, you can draw up the will yourself as previously mentioned and take it into a lawyer to make sure all the “i”s are dotted and the “t”s are crossed.

Specifically, you should consult with a lawyer (even briefly) if you’ve got any questions that you don’t have specific answers to. In addition, your situation may be more complex than a basic will can cover. For example, you may have a business and want to make sure it goes to the proper surviving owners or transfers ownership properly upon your death. Or, you may have a very large estate such that your heirs are going to be subject to estate tax unless you plan properly. You should also consult a lawyer, for example, if you think your will is going to be contested because of fraud or if someone is going to challenge your will on the grounds that YOU were incompetent.

Finally, there are some cases in which you can largely disinherit a spouse (although not entirely, if you’re still married) upon your death if you wish to. A lawyer can help you figure out what the laws are concerning your spouse’s rights and what you can do to minimize what your spouse will inherit.

These are all situations in which you should consult a lawyer simply to make sure you’ve got everything covered so that there are no surprises to those who inherit your estate upon your death, and that there are no difficulties in determining who gets what at that time.

If at any time you’re in doubt

Again, remember that you can still do most of the work yourself with one of the many good “make a will” software programs out there. These days, it should just take you a few minutes to hours in a lawyer’s office to make sure everything is right so that you get the outcome you want. You should rarely if ever have to consult a lawyer from the beginning to complete a will from start to finish.

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