{"id":34716,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/do-you-need-a-will-you-bet-your-life-amp-130-amp-133.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"do-you-need-a-will-you-bet-your-life-amp-130-amp-133","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/law-library\/do-you-need-a-will-you-bet-your-life-amp-130-amp-133.html","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need a Will? You Bet Your Life \u0082 \u0085"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 16, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p align=\"left\">Are you married? Do you have children? Do you own a home or have life insurance? Are you concerned about taxes? Are you concerned about your family&#39;s future?<\/p><p align=\"left\">If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you should have a Will.<\/p><p align=\"left\">Without a Will, your property will be distributed according to New York law. If you&#39;re married, your spouse won&#39;t get everything! New York law provides that a surviving spouse only gets one-half of your estate. Will this be enough to support your spouse?<\/p><p align=\"left\">Who will take care of your children? Your sister, a neighbor, or the in-laws? Without your direction, the court will decide who will take care of your children.<\/p><p align=\"left\">Without a Will, Uncle Sam may become your unintended beneficiary by requiring the payment of substantial estate taxes.<\/p><p align=\"left\">Do you want someone else making your decisions for your family? A will enables you to prepare for your family&#39;s future now and ensures that your wishes are followed&#8211;not someone else&#39;s.<\/p><p align=\"left\">In addition to Wills, there are other estate planning devices which help provide for your family&#39;s future support and stability: Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, Durable Powers of Attorneys and Trusts.<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you married? Do you have children? Do you own a home or have life insurance? Are you concerned about taxes? Are you concerned about your family&#8217;s future? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you should have a Will. Without a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6497,6519],"class_list":["post-34716","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-law-library","corporate_categories-law-library__wills-trusts-probate-law"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/34716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=34716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}