No one wants to think about it but it's something we all have to face, what happens when we die?

According to Caring.com's 2025 survey, an estimated 76% of Americans die without a will.

"Everybody has to deal with the perception and the reality that they are going to die and people don't want to deal with that!" said Robert Rusu, Mahoning County probate court judge..

When someone dies without a will, the probate court steps in to determine how their assets are distributed.
That's called intestate succession.

"It's possible that the people you want to get your asset doesn't end up getting the asset because the laws of intestate succession state you gets your assets once you die and you may not want it to be those people," said Rusu.

Probate can take as little as a couple months or as long as a couple years depending on how complicated the estate is.
Usually, you can avoid that if there's a will.

"If you have certain things of value and you want them to go to certain people your will can make that happen . It will avoid family conflicts because it can get messy if you don't spell out who gets what," said Mark Huffman of RetirementLiving.com

You don't always need an attorney to make a will. You can draw one up yourself online very inexpensively. For example, Legal zoom.com charges just over a hundred dollars and it's all perfectly legal.

"The more simple your life the more likely you are to get by with a will that is online," said Brian Vines from Consumer Reports.

What's also good for Ohio residents is there is no federal estate taxes for those who inherit under $13 million dollars, making it easier to do it yourself online.
But there are cases when an attorney is needed.

"If you get divorced, if you get married, if you have children or grandchildren, any big life event that expands your family you should really be updating your will to keep up with those life changes," said Vines.

With children, you might even need to create a trust and you'll need a lawyer to put that together.

The more assets you have, the more complicated it gets so you might want to have an attorney to set all that stuff up and to answer any questions.
So when is the best time to start the will process?

"The best age to do a will is right now!" said Vines.

Experts say if you put it off you'll forget about it then it will be too late.
Don't do that to your family.
Going thought the pain of a loved ones death is bad enough, don't make them go through the pain of fighting with other family members over your estate.