The Importance of Having a Will

A will can direct that your share of a family farm goes to your adult nephew, who has spent years tending the soil. If you want to support the college education of a young person in your life, you can use your will to cover their tuition.

You may have promised funds or assets to various people in your life, but without a will, there is no way to ensure that they end up in the right hands. The farm could go to the son from whom you are estranged. Your estate could be forced to sell your bracelet so that the proceeds can be split among family members.

In addition to making stipulations for specific items, your will can also name beneficiaries for any items not specifically listed. The remainder of your property is called the “residuary” of your estate. You can direct that anything not otherwise mentioned go to named individuals, organizations, or charities.

Additionally, your will can help ensure that certain people in your life don’t benefit from your hard work and savings. You may want to make it clear that a former spouse shouldn’t inherit anything. If you gave one child a significant gift to help with school or buying a house, you may have considered that their early inheritance. You can outline those details in your will, making sure your other children receive what you consider to be their fair share.

Often, these are conversations we have with people in our lives, but they mean little unless they are made official and legal. A will does that for you. If discussing the distribution of your assets feels uncomfortable, your will is even more critical. Imagine that you thought about leaving something to a friend or child but never felt comfortable mentioning it. Your will can formalize the intents you never found the right time to voice.

Choose your Child’s Guardian

When you are a parent to minor children, the importance of a will is even more pronounced. Your will is the mechanism for naming who will care for your children in the event of your death. While many people consider wills something that older people should have as they enter the final chapters of their lives, parents of young children need a will more than nearly anyone else.

If your child’s other parent survives you, typically, they will receive custody. If both parents die, the question of the designated guardian will heavily influence the outcome of the rest of your child’s life.

By nominating a guardian, you pick the person who will be the stand-in parent for your child. They will have the same responsibilities as a parent, including providing food, housing, and daily care, as well as living with your child and guiding them to adulthood.

That’s too big a decision to leave up to a court that knows nothing about you, your child, or the friends and family who could care for your child. Your will is your opportunity to guide your child into the best situation possible.

If you don’t have a will to serve as a guide to your family, those factors can lead to tension, fights, and lasting damage to relationships.

The nephew, to whom you promised your share of the farm in exchange for his years of service, will likely feel deeply slighted if the land instead goes to your sister. Your sister may think that your nephew is being greedy, trying to get something he doesn’t deserve. This disagreement can cause a lasting rift.

Without your final word, in the form of your will, your promises won’t always be kept. Eliminating the guesswork, ambiguity, and misunderstandings that come from not knowing your wishes prevents this tension. You don’t want your legacy to be fractured relationships, broken friendships, and disowned relatives. Creating a will can help prevent that from happening.

Guide your Funeral

It may feel uncomfortable to think about the specifics of your funeral. But it will also be uncomfortable for those you leave behind if they have to guess what you’d have wanted. It can be incredibly stressful to make an uninformed judgment about the wishes of a departed loved one. The importance of a will isn’t just deciding who gets what and how your possessions are distributed. Creating a will is also about ensuring you are remembered and honored in ways that feel appropriate. Better still, your will can keep your funeral from becoming an additional burden to your family and friends.

In your will, you can name a funeral executor who is in charge of planning and executing the ceremony. You can also mention a preferred location, officiant, desired final resting place, how you’d like your remains to be handled, or even favorite music you would like to be part of the service. How specific you want to be is entirely up to you. The critical part is that you include enough details to guide your loved ones so they don’t have to guess and worry they aren’t honoring you in the ways you’d like.

Your will’s funeral guidance may not be legally binding. However, it will still be a gift and a comfort to your loved ones. Your will can remove stressful and difficult decisions from their shoulders as they deal with the emotional, financial, and administrative aspects of your passing.

During intestacy, the legal system may freeze your assets. As a result, your loved ones will have no access to those funds to help pay for funeral expenses, official copies of your death certificate needed to close accounts, and other vital services. Your death could become very expensive for those you leave behind if they can not access your accounts during this time.

The arduous and often pricey process of intestacy underscores the importance of a will.

Determine Who Manages Your Estate

When you write your will, you can nominate an executor. The executor is the person tasked with closing out your affairs and seeing that your wishes are followed.

The executor’s responsibilities are critical to ensuring that the residual issues from your life are handled properly and efficiently. This person is responsible for tasks like closing your bank accounts, selling your home (unless you’ve left it to a specific person), and notifying life insurance companies of your death. The executor may also file taxes for the estate and oversee other administrative requirements.

The executor’s role is to make sure everything is done legally, thoroughly, and according to your wishes. Because of the sensitive nature of their work and the access they have to all your assets, the executor should be someone trustworthy and responsible.

If you don’t name an executor, the court will pick one for you. The court doesn’t know that your eldest daughter is a notorious procrastinator, your brother has a difficult personality, or your estranged son is known for his sticky fingers with other people’s finances. The court’s choice for your executor may not be the person you’d want or the one who will make everyone’s life as easy as possible while they are grieving. Naming an executor in your will ensures this critical job goes to the person most capable of handling it.

Handle your Digital Assets

People think of wills as documents that designate physical property or money. But what about your digital assets? What happens to your Facebook profile or your Instagram account?

Who receives access to your digital files, including photos, email archives, and videos? If you own a domain name, who retains control over it?

Your will allows you to answer all these questions.

 

You can direct control of specific digital assets, such as stating that your son should be able to control a particular social media account. Or you can name a digital executor to manage all these assets after you pass. You can also use your will to state your wishes about what happens to your accounts after you pass. This direction could mean specifying that your Instagram account be closed or a Facebook group you manage be turned over to a trusted friend.

Speak with your lawyer about the best way to provide password access to your digital assets. If you’ve directed that a valuable social media account go to your sibling, that isn’t very meaningful if they can’t access the account.

You may decide to use your will to ensure your relatives can enjoy the family digital photos you’ve been collecting for years. They won’t be able to access them if they are locked behind an unknown password. You can use your will not only to state who can access your accounts and what you wish to be done with them but also to ensure access is possible.