What it controls and what it does not
A will governs only the property that passes through probate, meaning assets held in your name alone with no beneficiary attached. It does not reach a retirement account or life insurance policy with a named beneficiary, a house owned jointly with a right of survivorship, or anything held in a trust. It still does three things nothing else can. It names an executor, it nominates a guardian for minor children, and it catches whatever the other arrangements miss.
If you die without one
Each state has an intestacy statute that hands your property to relatives in a fixed order, typically the spouse and children first, then parents, then siblings. The formula makes no allowance for the facts of your life. An unmarried partner of ten years receives nothing. Stepchildren you raised receive nothing unless you adopted them. A judge also chooses your children's guardian without any word from you.
Making it valid
Most states ask for the same formalities. You must be eighteen and of sound mind, the will must be in writing, and you must sign it in front of two adult witnesses who also sign. Choose witnesses who inherit nothing under it, because an interested witness can void a gift or invite a challenge. Adding a notarized self-proving affidavit spares your witnesses a trip to court years later. About half the states accept an unwitnessed handwritten will, but it is a poor thing to rely on. Do not mark up a signed will, since handwritten changes are either ignored or grounds for a contest. Sign a new will instead.
Executor and guardian
The executor gathers your assets, pays the debts and final taxes, and distributes the remainder under court supervision, a job that often takes six months to a year. Choose someone organized who lives in reasonable reach, and name a backup. Ask your proposed guardian before you name them. Revisit the will after a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death in the family or a move to another state.
A lawyer-drafted simple will commonly costs a few hundred to a thousand dollars. It is worth the fee if you have a blended family, a child with special needs, a business, property in more than one state, or a wish to leave out a close relative.
Tip Tell your executor where the signed original is kept. Courts want the original and not a copy, and a bank safe deposit box can be hard to open once its owner has died.
