To ensure that your property goes to those persons whom you want, everyone needs a will. If you die without a will, only that property which is titled jointly in both spouses names with rights of survivorship will pass directly to your surviving spouse. The remainder of all property will pass to your children. Accounts will have to be filed with the Clerk of Court in the County where the children reside every year until the child reaches age 18. The guardian will have to be bonded and an attorney will have to be employed to assist with the guardianship.
Guardianship can be a very costly and time consuming process.
If however, you had drafted a valid will prior to death, then your property would pass to those persons whom you named in your will - usually your surviving spouse if you are married. In addition, you could provide the age at which you children would be entitled to receive the property held in trust - most 18 year olds are not ready for the responsibility of handling money or property. The second thing that needs to be done is to prepare a family tree, starting with you and your spouse and continuing down through your children and grandchildren. The third thing that needs to be done is to identify your goals for those for whom you wish to provide at your death, taking into consideration individual needs and abilities. At this point, you can consider how your property should be divided among those for whom you wish to provide.