We hope it’s part of your New Years Resolution to think about your future, and as part of that to create an estate plan if you don’t have one already. But, you might be thinking, I hardly own anything, why would I need a will? Generally, the answer is to ensure the assets you’ve worked so hard to accumulate over your lifetime (no matter how big or small) pass to those you choose, not to those dictated by someone else.

Without a Will, any property (personal, real, or otherwise) which does not have another person titled to it, or which does not have a beneficiary separately designated, will pass according to New York State’s default order. Presently, the order includes spouses and children first, and then parents, siblings, nieces, or nephews moving down the list until living heirs can be identified. Whenever a living heir can be identified, that individual (or another living heir) will petition the court for administration of your estate. It is through this Court process that an administrator is appointed, assets can be distributed, and your estate ultimately closed.

As you can tell, you may not get to choose exactly who the administrator is, or who your assets are ultimately split between, especially if your nuclear family predeceased you, or if you have non-blood relatives that have an important part in your life. That’s one of the primary benefits of having a Will. Other benefits include specifying a guardian if you have children under the age of 18 and streamlining the probate process for your family after your passing.

Now, not all assets will pass via your Will. If you jointly own property at your time of death, that property generally passes automatically to the surviving owner. Most commonly, spouses own their home jointly, meaning both are listed as owners. Thus, if one spouse passes, the property passes automatically to the surviving spouse without any further action needed. This means you do not need to execute a new deed just because your spouse passed away, nor do you need to specify the property in your Will.

If you own assets, most commonly life insurance or retirement accounts, where beneficiaries can be designated, again, those assets pass automatically to the named parties. After your passing, your beneficiary will need to provide your death certificate to the company administering the account, and likely fill out some other paperwork, but no court process is required to access these funds.

We encourage you to start this year off strong, think about your future, and if you don’t already have a Will, there’s no time like the present to get one in place.