The 4 top reasons people don't have wills Avoidance, Denial, Misinformation, No Time. by Sherwood Guernsey, Esq.

No one wants to think about their death, but everyone wants to have their final wishes carried out. Would you prefer that the government decide for you? I don’t think so. In fact, here are the top 4 results of doing nothing:

1. Thousands of Dollars at Stake.
With a will and other important planning documents, you may be able to save thousands of dollars in estate taxes. Massachusetts has a new state estate tax which has a much lower threshold than the federal estate tax. The proper planning, analysis and documentation might save you thousands of estate tax dollars.

In addition, proper planning can mean that your estate (i.e. your family members, your company, your favorite charities, etc.) won't have to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees and filing fees to go through the Probate process. What is the Probate process? It is the court process that establishes the validity of property ownership held by a decedent at the time of death. Historically, it replaces much earlier systems, such as the "oldest male takes all." (That system worked just fine to clarify who owned what property, but met with a bit of opposition from younger siblings and women!)

The problem today is that the probate process is long and expensive. You will have to pay lots of money to lawyers and lots of filing fees to the state. These costs can, and usually do, add up to thousands of dollars. Why pay such large costs and fees, when, with good planning, you don't have to?

2. State Intervention
The most important reason for having a will and estate plan is to ensure that you, not the state, name your beneficiaries, and that you, not the state, decide what share of your estate each beneficiary receives. Otherwise, without a will, the state will decide who gets what and how much from your estate. With good planning, it will all be up to you.

In addition, without a will and estate plan, the state will also decide who will be your executor, the person in charge of assembling all your assets, overseeing their distribution or sale, reporting to the court and filing the necessary forms, paying the taxes and so forth. Do you want a stranger going through your things? I bet not. With a will, you get to decide.

3. Long Delays
Not having a will holds up the assets from your estate from being distributed due to probate. The normal probate process takes about 12 to 18 months - yes, a year and half, and if there are problems or complications, it can take even longer. If any of your beneficiaries is in need of funds from your estate, a real hardship can result from such delays. In addition, at a time of intense emotional distress, these delays alone can create more stress. Is that what you want your legacy to be? Stress and delays? I don’t think so. With a will, your estate will be distributed quickly and efficiently.

4. Family Controversy
No matter the size of an estate or size of the family, family tensions and fighting over the parents' estate is all too common, and it isn't pretty. Most people think that tensions arise only if you have a large estate, but that belief couldn't be more incorrect. The estate is a reflection of the loved one who has died, and this ties into emotions. A silver spoon or an old hammer can lead a family into World War III. The clarity of the will and estate plan, the clear directives from mom and dad, will reduce family tensions. No, this doesn’t mean there won’t be issues to deal with, or hurt feelings, but at least it will be known what they wanted each person to have.

And please, do not be misled by the commonly held belief that if your family members are very close before death, there will not be any problems after death. It simply isn't so. There is almost no correlation between family closeness before death to feelings after death.

So, the decision is yours: If you want to avoid family tensions and bad feelings for the rest of your children's lives, just do some simple estate planning before you die.

A final thought
You’ve worked hard your whole life, saved, invested and planned to leave your estate to those who mean the most to you. It is the greatest final gift you can give - clarity of choice - your choice.

Putting your affairs in order - setting up a will, estate plan, making sure you have the appropriate power(s) of attorney and health care proxies - lets you decide what your legacy will truly be. It’s also a gift to yourself - peace of mind.

Now, having read this, do you have the time for a little estate planning?