People who are married often feel they have no need for a will. They incorrectly believe that if they die, everything will go to their spouse. Although every situation is different, if you own assets in your own name, that is likely not the case. 



For example, let’s assume the house is in your name alone, and because of our crazy real estate market, it is now worth $800,000. Let’s also assume your mortgage debt is $200,000. You therefore have $600,000 in equity (more or less). In this example, you are married and have 2 children. If you don’t have a will, your spouse is entitled to the first $350,000 of your estate. The balance is divided in 3 equal shares – one for your spouse and one for each of your two children. The result is that your spouse will likely have to sell the house in order to pay the children.

Imagine how devastating that will be for the family. The house will be sold and your family will need to move, at a time when they are heartbroken and are trying to grieve you. If the children are minors, the money will have to be held in trust for them and your spouse won’t have access to it. All in all, I would call this a disaster and likely not what you would have wanted for your family.

This is just one example. If you aren’t married but are living in a common law relationship, your spouse does not have any rights to your estate, unless you name him/her in a will. If you are single, do you know what will happen to your money? Do you have a friend or charity you would like to benefit from all of your hard work?

I will share that when my husband Mark died, it was all I could do, to hold myself together. Fortunately, he had a will, and in the months before he died, he tried to make sure things would be easy for me. Even with all of that planning ahead of time, there were still some financial issues I had to deal with that caused me anxiety. I was so grateful that Mark had done all he could to try to minimize my stress at such a heartbreaking time.

I tell my clients – making a will is one of the most loving things you can do. And I know that is true because I lived it.