The year was 1981, the state was Florida, and I had just flown back from Germany for my father's funeral. My sister and her family were down from New York, and, a few days after the funeral, we were sitting with my mother in a lawyer's office in downtown Pensacola. My mother had just learned that she didn't have any say over what happened to the money she and my father had saved over the years, and she didn't have any control over what happened to the house they had paid for together. She was at the mercy of the State of Florida because my father had died intestate - without a Last Will & Testament.

Fortunately, she and my father had raised their children well. All that was required was for my sister and me to sign a paper relinquishing our claims to any part of the estate. Had we not signed, however, the estate, including the house, all the money in savings, and the $40,000.00 in Certificates of Deposit would have been divided among the three of us. That was the law, and that was the result of my father not having a will.

My sister and I did not hesitate for an instant. We signed without any problem, but how many families could say that all the possible heirs would be so compliant and agreeable? Even worse, each state has its own way of dealing with the distribution of assets to the heirs of someone who dies without a last will and testament.

There are a lot of options available in addition to the commonplace will for protecting the distribution of assets upon someone's death, including such things as living trusts, but the Last Will & Testament still ranks as one of the simplest and best ways of insuring that your heirs will get what you want them to get without the intervention of courts and lawyers. Taking that for a fact, a Last Will & Testament is one of the most important legal documents a person can create during his or her lifetime: it is the document that determines who receives the assets of that person upon his or her death.

The laws of most states are designed to provide the assets of an estate first to the surviving spouse and then to any children of that person if the spouse is no longer living, but this hierarchy of distribution is not always guaranteed. Indeed, in our case, all three of us, my mother, my sister, and I were considered to be equal in our claims upon the estate. When you think about it, my mother and father had paid for the house without any help from us, and for most of the years she had worked as a grade school teacher, my mother had willingly put every penny of her paycheck in their savings account in the expectation of them having that money in their senior years. The laws of the State of Florida said that she no longer had an unchallenged claim to that house or money.

Setting aside just a few minutes to visit a lawyer or fill out a legal Will form is simply smart estate planning. A Last Will and Testament will guarantee that your family receives the assets of your estate in the manner you desire when the time comes. Why allow the uncertain vagaries of state laws and the decisions of someone who knows nothing of you or your family affect your spouse's finances or your children's finances after you die?

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