Death is Certain…. What Happens to Your Stuff is Not

Thoughts of our mortality are no doubt tinged with a distinct unpleasantness. Much of this past year and a half has been scary because even death statistics in the abstract remind us that we too will eventually “shuffle off this mortal coil,” as the Bard wrote.

And if thoughts of our physical demise are discomforting, there is the added concern of what happens to the stuff we leave behind: who gets what? You may think “Hey, it no longer concerns me, I won’t be around.”?True enough. But do you want those close to you – or even not close to you—enmeshed in a battle over the assets you leave behind? And do you want your hard-earned money to be spent on attorneys, courts, fees, and taxes?

August is national Make-a-Will Month, a reminder of the importance of planning who gets your assets after your death. You may think that only the wealthy have estate plans and complicated Wills; we’ve all seen movie scenes of families sitting in some attorney’s office hearing the reading of the departed’s Will, and the eventual outrage erupting from an odd cousin contesting the outcome.

A less common plotline is an estate ending up in probate because no Will was created—no legal documentation of the deceased’s wishes. This may not possess the comic value of the disgruntled cousin, but the reality is, that no one emerges satisfied; the process is usually a long, frustrating mess.

That’s because probate costs money and can drag on for years, or even decades as fees and taxes pile up.

And I mean years if not decades. Jimi Hendrix died in 1970 with no Will, and his estate spawned legal battles that lasted 30 years, finally being settled in 2015. Another genius that passed without a Will was Pablo Picasso. The six-year court battle cost tens of millions of dollars to settle.

Just as the course of life presents a variety of options and responsibilities, so does the course of death. If we don’t expect random people to earn a living for us, why should we be okay with random people deciding the “fair” distribution of our hard-earned assets?

Aside from the unpleasantness of planning for one’s death, there is also the intimidation factor that comes with dealing with the legal aspect of establishing a Will. Few of us are equipped to navigate estate, tax, and probate laws, which vary from state to state, without professional counsel.

The good news is we don’t have to be. Many platforms allow a simple process of defining assets, designating beneficiaries, and creating instructions for distribution to the deserving souls or institutions we care about. In fact, you can do this right from your smartphone.

If you’re reading this, you’re alive (!) which means you can proactively manage your assets to maximize and protect them for beneficiaries in the far, distant future. I won’t get into the minutia of estate planning, trusts, or various investment possibilities that protect the manifestations of your work, but the opportunity to structure these is easier than you think.

Full disclosure, I have an obvious vested interest here: as the CEO of LegalShield It’s my job to promote the company’s tremendously valuable products and services, such as Wills and Estate Planning. I’d love you to use us, but I’d be truly ecstatic if everyone who reads this post makes a will this month—regardless of whom they work with to get the morbid but necessary job done.

As a father who cares deeply about my family—and as a citizen engaged in several causes about which I am passionate—I would hate to see the manifestations of my years of labor end up in a court battle. My legacy matters to me, and I prefer to control the allocation of my assets—be them humble or grand.

This brings me to the notion that our lives are all structured differently. Some have giant estates, some die with debt; we don’t all have offspring or extended family. But we may have causes we support, whether museums or orchestras, the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter, justice organizations like The Innocence Project (a non-profit organization LegalShield enthusiastically supports), ?or even philanthropic endeavors in other countries.

The U.S. is one of the most generous countries in the world; we are a caring people. And our laws allow us to be generous even from the great beyond. Designating a charitable organization as one of your beneficiaries is a noble gesture.?

During Make a Will month, consider who and what is important in your life, who has been by your side, who has had your back, family, friends, as well as the causes and organizations which matter most to you. Creating a Will allows you to express your appreciation when you can no longer do so in person.

Do you have any deserving organizations you’d consider putting in your will? Share below, you may just inspire the rest of us to get moving on our wills!