Traditional Wills

• The purpose of creating a regular will is to specify what will happen to your possessions after you are gone. When you create a will, you can name your beneficiaries and you can decide which beneficiary gets each piece of your estate. If you are a parent of small children, one of the most important reasons to make a will is so you can name someone to be guardian of your children.
  
  

Requirements

• If you want to make a legally valid will, you must meet eligibility requirements and see that the will is created in the proper manner. To start out with, you have to be of legal adult age according to the laws of your state, which is 18 years of age in most states and 16 years of age in others. You also have to be of sound mind when creating the document. Most states require you to have two or three witnesses, and some states require that the document be notarized.
  
  

Probate Process

• One of the drawbacks of using a traditional will is that your document will have to go through the probate process after you die. This means that your executor will have to take the will to the local probate court and that it will become a matter of public record. Anyone in the county can then find out what was in your will. The length of time that it takes to complete probate can also be a problem; many cases take between six months and one year.
  
  

Contesting a Will

• Another issue to consider is the possibility of someone in your family contesting the will. A will can be contested if a family member or beneficiary believes that it was not accurate. When this happens, it can add a substantial amount of money to the overall cost of the probate process. Family members can end up fighting for months while attorney fees rise. The probate court could then decide something not even close to what you originally intended.