You can’t take it with you. Unless you plan to live forever, your property will eventually need to be divided among the family and loved ones you leave behind. By having a will, you determine who gets what. Without one, the law will do it to you by work of the statutes. Many people believe that they are not wealthy enough to need a will. But if you own property that is titled (a car or a house), after your death, those items cannot be transferred without opening an estate. If you do not have a will, the cost of processing your estate increases significantly.

When a person dies and leaves behind property, that property is known as an estate. In order to transfer ownership of property in the decedent’s estate to surviving heirs, the estate must go through the probate process. A will not only identifies who will inherit the property, it names an executor to manage the estate. Without a will, not only will the statutes determine who gets your property, but the court will have to help a trustee manage the estate. This is an expensive process.

The most obvious benefit of having a will is controlling which property passes to which heir. This is important if there are pieces of personal property that you want to give to a specific loved one for sentimental or other reasons. A will also allows you to put conditions on the bequest, such as that the heir complete higher education or reach a certain age, before receiving the estate from him.

If these benefits of having a will aren’t enough to convince you to take action, consider who you’re leaving behind. A will invariably makes the probate process smoother and easier for the survivors. In addition to controlling exactly where the property goes, a will names the person or persons who will “execute” the estate, that is, the person who will collect the property and distribute it to designated heirs. Often this is not a small undertaking: it can involve selling shares, closing and consolidating bank accounts, liquidating assets, and more. When drafting a will, you should be sure to select an executor who has knowledge of the property in his estate and the competence and willingness to do the job, all of which make the probate process more efficient. Without a will, the court must appoint an administrator (obviously not of their choosing) to perform these tasks. Unfortunately, this is more expensive and can lead to disagreements among family members.