Die without a will and a court will decide who gets your assets based on established state law. Here in Washington state that means your spouse and children. If you are not married and die without a will, the courts will allocated your estate to blood relatives.

You may think that's fine. You may also want to make sure your best friend, Ned, gets your prize Harley when you're gone. The only way to guarantee Ned gets that bike is to have a will that gives it to him.

Drawing up a will is easy to put off, but it's something that's especially important if there are young children in the family. You want to name the person (or couple) who will raise your minor kids should you and your spouse die.

Without a will that stipulates a guardian, a court will make that decision, too. The judge might choose some relative you don't like or don't want to raise your children.

"You might have some friend or neighbor that you'd think would make a better guardian, says Greg Daughtery, editor-at-large with Consumer Reports, "but unless you have that in writing, it's probably not going to happen."

Remember, the guardian needs to be more than 18 years old and willing to assume this major responsibility. This is something you need to discuss with them before you draw up any paperwork.

My wife and I recently had our lawyer write a new will for us. We don't have any children, but we want to be sure that Jack (our dog) and Casey (our cat) are cared for should something happen to us. We also decided it was time to change the way our assets are distributed after our passing.

I've got to tell you; it's amazing how much paperwork is involved in drawing up a complete estate plan. Besides the will, we each wanted the following documents prepared:

• A Durable Power of Attorney: This let us designed someone to handle our financial affairs if we become unable to do that.

• A Health Care Power of Attorney: We were able to choose someone to decide about the medical care we receive if we are not able to speak for ourselves.

• A Health Care Directive: This is what's often called a "living will." It spells out what sort of medical care we want or do not want if we are diagnosed to be close to death.

In Washington State, the Health Care Directive lets you make some very specific decisions. As our lawyer, John Coe, explains, " it allows you to state in advance whether or not you want to be on life support and whether or not you want artificially provided food or water if you are diagnosed to be in a terminal condition."

It's a good idea to look at your will every 3 - 5 years. You should do it sooner if there's a major change in your life: a child is born, you marry or divorce, someone named in the will dies, or there's a significant change in your financial situation.

For More Information:

www.pueblo.gsa.gov

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