What happens if you don’t create a Will?

Major headaches are inevitable when a person dies without a Will (also known as dying “intestate”). The major issue being that, without a Will, your final wishes are not voiced for the fiduciaries and/or beneficiaries. This lack of instruction then leads to confusion and disagreements among family members and threatens future disharmony. Normally, with a properly drafted Will, there would be a named person to serve as a Personal Representative of your estate, but without a Will, the court will need to rely on statutory law through a formal petition process. This petitioning process then opens the door to an unintended person becoming the Personal Representative of your estate and thereby creating the potential for further chaos. The court will do its best to get the estate settled as fairly as possible, but the timing of when and how things get done can be largely at the discretion of the Personal Representative. The result being that the estate administration could extend years before being completely resolved while racking up legal fees and administrative expenses along the way.