More on Teenagers Drafting Wills

As 18-year-olds head off to college, the last thing they’re thinking about is drafting a will. Peter Bielagus, a former financial adviser who speaks to young people about managing their money, tells his listeners to draft a will because it gets them thinking about the future and sets them on the right track to have a successful financial life.

More practical reasons for young adults to draft wills include:

• They can direct where their assets go. Many young adults have money, whether it came from working, an inheritance, or a lawsuit.
• It reduces cost and stress for heirs because they don’t have to depend upon state law to distribute assets.
• It prevents long delays associated with intestate distribution.
• It prevents undesirable state law distributions. For example, South Carolina splits property between a spouse and children, regardless of how old the children are. If for no other reason, teenage parents who have very young children need to draft a will to designate a guardian for their children.

As I previously blogged, executing wills is most important for those teens entering the military. Teens who have pets should also consider designating who they want to own the pet.

See Daisy Maxey, Planning for the Unthinkable, WSJ, June 14, 2010.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.