Many people don’t have a Will or Trust.  They either have a mistaken belief in their own continued health and good fortune, or they figure they may need need a Will or Trust but don’t need it yet.  There are folks in their seventies who are putting this off until they are in their eighties.  People just don’t like to deal with the fact that they will not be here forever.  So they put it off, year-by-year until their time runs out. 

But no one really dies without a Will, because if you don’t write one, your state will write one for you.  Dying without having written your own Will is called dying intestate.  The state or province you live in has laws for the distribution of the property of those who die intestate.  You can read about “intestate succession” here:  https://www.findlaw.com/estate/planning-an-estate/intestate-succession-laws-by-state.html , and about how your state will distribute your property if you die without a Will.

If you do have a Will or Trust, but no one knows whether you do, or where it is, there is a good chance that your Will or Trust won’t be found and that your estate will be distributed according to your state’s intestacy laws.

Let’s face the reality: People die every day, and no one alive knows or remembers  if he or she had a Will, or where it could be located.  In many cases, the Will was written decades ago, and who knows where it can be found today?  Even if it is held by a law firm, that firm by now has a different name and a different address, and no living relative either knows or can remember which firm their deceased relative might have gone to. 

So, generally, when a family member dies, the family shows up at the house to put things in order. Maybe they have a key, maybe not. Maybe they know the alarm codes, maybe not.  Maybe once they get in and start rummaging through the files they find a Will, but maybe not.  And as for the Will or Trust they found, is it the latest version. or is it an old version that was redone a couple of times since?

For only $49, individuals can open an account and place important information for their heirs in their own private area on our secure, encrypted servers.  The $49 payment includes setting up the account and the first full year of service.

If you have an account at FamilyAndHeirs.com, your relatives who have been given our special “Read-Only” password will be able to learn where your latest Will or Trust can be located, and they will be able to view all the information and uploaded documents the Account Holder has placed in his or her private storage area.  But those with Read-Only access will only be able the view the Account Holder's information and documents; they will not be able to add, delete or modify anything. 

Don’t let your property, accumulated over a lifetime, be distributed as the State sees fit because your Will or Trust cannot be located.