Everyone knows that it is important to have a Will. If you have a will, you are in control of who gets your property after your death. If you die without a will, your estate is subject to what is called Intestate (which simply means 'without a testament') Succession.

     If you die 'intestate' in Virginia, the legislature of Virginia dictates how your probate estate will be distributed. In many cases, this is what many folks want, so it is not necessarily the 'end of the world' (so to speak). In some cases, however, it is vastly different from what you may have wanted. Here are a few thoughts for your consideration:

If you are married with children, and the only children around are the biological or adoptive children of you and your spouse, and you die with out a will, then your spouse will inherit everything. Most people want that anyway. BUT if any of your children have a parent other than your surviving spouse, only one-third of your estate will go to your spouse and the remainder will be split among your children.

If you are not married and have no descendants, your parents will inherit your estate. If neither of your parents is living, other specified family members will inherit your estate. The possibility of the proverbial 'laughing heir' is very real here. (The 'laughing heir' is one who does not know you, does not care about you, but will gladly take the money generated by the sale of the assets of your estate, laughing all the way to the bank.) If you are single and have no children, you may wish your estate to go to a close friend, a life partner, a charity or other non-profit organization before it goes to relatives unknown. That will happen only as a result of a Will.

(By the way, it is simply not true that if you die without a Will your estate automatically goes to the state. It goes to your relatives. If no relatives of yours can be found within the appropriate degree of relationship, then it is possible that the state would receive the assets of your estate, but that is an extremely rare circumstance.)

     If you die without a will, an administrator will be appointed to manage your estate. Generally, a family member will be appointed by the court as the administrator and will typically have to pay for a surety bond before being authorized to serve. This is a cost that can be avoided with a Will.

     If your children are minors, their inheritance will generally be held by a court-appointed guardian of their property. The guardian is most often the surviving parent, who generally must obtain a surety bond, which is a cost that can be avoided with a will. Funds held by a guardian are turned over to your child when the child is 18 years old. If you would like the funds held for a child until a later age (21, 25 and 29 are popular ages, representing certain levels of maturity and stability), you will need to make such provisions in your Will by creating a trust and appointing a trustee.

     You do not know when you are going to die. When you do, and if proper planning has not been done, your death can create great havoc (especially if persons you did not intend to receive the bulk of your estate begin removing their items from your marital home that you intended to preserve for your spouse). Or you can take just a few moments to plan what will happen with your estate at your death. Considering the ease and low cost of creating a standard will, it is something everyone should do once they become of a certain age and have accumulated assets or have children.