Don't Have a Will? It's Time to Get Started.

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If you were to die suddenly, what would happen to your possessions? There are two possible answers to this question. The first is:

“Well, Robert, I was prescient enough to prepare a will so my loved ones won’t have to potentially become entangled in an unhappy legal situation.”

The second is:

“Well, Robert, I guess my remaining family’s just gotta’ figure it out themselves because screw them, right?”

Okay, so maybe those aren’t the only two answers verbatim, but if you take a precarious step and fall down a manhole tomorrow morning, either your survivors are going to have a head start or they’re not.

Ken Gordon of The Columbus Dispatch offers some pretty grim stats that suggest most Americans aren’t prepared:

“According to an April 2014 survey by the tax-and-audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers, only 40 percent of full-time working adults in the United States have a will. Even among those 55 to 64, only 51 percent have one.”

That’s not good. What is good, says Gordon, is that preparing a will isn’t difficult:

“A will is simply a legally accepted document that spells out how you want your assets divided upon your death and who will be in charge of dividing them … The first step, lawyers say, is to make a list of all your assets, such as your house, vehicles, bank accounts, investment and retirement accounts, and life-insurance policies. Next, list any household items or family heirlooms you might want to designate to a surviving relative…”

Take a look at Gordon’s full piece to learn all you need about getting started.