Importance of a will

[escapefromabuse]

When taking care of your affairs, how important is a will for a person with basically no assets? What money will be left in my estate will likely go to debts. I've funneled what money I can to my kids already.

 

[EndItNorth]

Have you decided on how you would like your remains handled? A Will usually outlines that, although I suppose you could put those instructions in a final note which in some jurisdictions can be construed as your Last Will and Testament.

 

[escapefromabuse]

My plan was to just leave a note outlining my wishes. Thankfully things should be relatively easy since I don't have much. I wasn't sure if a will would be worth the investment.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Assuming you're in the States...

Your next of kin should automatically become executor. Their expenses have first claim to the estate (remains, death certificate, service, court and other fees, etc.), creditors follow, then heirs. A will may speed things up in probate, in some states setting up a trust would also speed things up. The only reason I would bother with a will would be if I were to assign a different executor than next of kin. The executor needs to be able to pay some things out of pocket until probate.

Of course do your own research. This came from my recent research to determine whether it was worth the effort or expense to leave a will.

 

[BPD Barbie]

I haven't got anything worth anything but I wanted to leave a will to document my funeral wishes more than anything.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

I wrote executor, they will actually be the administrator of the estate if they accept the responsibility.

 

[Polly]

In the US there's a document called The Five Wishes that lays out how you want final moments and memorials handled.

I suspect the SN regime would not be honored. :-)