Understanding Your Last Will and Testament
The most familiar estate planning document, and the most commonly misunderstood.
A son sits in his late father’s home office in Gilbert, holding a manila envelope. Inside, a Last Will and Testament dated 2008. His father had told him for years, “Everything is in the will. You will not have to worry about anything.” The son believed him. The son was wrong.
The will named the son as executor. It left everything to him and his sister equally. It seemed clean. What it did not say (because no will ever does) was that the will itself was the starting point of a 14-month probate process. The house could not be sold without the court’s permission. The investment accounts that named his mother as beneficiary (his mother, who had died six years earlier) went into a separate legal limbo. The IRA his father had updated to name his sister directly bypassed the will entirely. The lawyer’s bill was $9,400 before any heir saw a dollar.
A Last Will and Testament is the most familiar estate planning document. It is also the one most people misunderstand. Here is what it actually does, what it does not do, and where families typically get it wrong.
What a Will Actually Does
A Last Will and Testament does three core things.
It names heirs. Who gets the assets at death, and in what proportion.
It names a guardian for any minor children.
It names an executor. The person responsible for filing the will with the probate court, paying debts, and distributing assets.
That is the entire scope. Anything else a will appears to do is probably not actually the will doing the work.
What a Will Does NOT Do
Three things surprise most people.
It does not avoid probate. A will goes through probate court, not around it. In Arizona, that process takes 6 to 18 months and typically costs 3 to 7 percent of the estate’s value.
It does not override beneficiary designations. Life insurance policies, 401(k)s, IRAs, and any account with a named beneficiary pay out to the named beneficiary regardless of what the will says. If an ex-spouse is still listed on a 401(k), they get it. Even if the will leaves everything to the current spouse.
It does not take effect during life. If a person becomes incapacitated (stroke, dementia, serious accident), the will sits in a drawer doing nothing. Incapacity is handled by Powers of Attorney, not by the will.
Standalone Will vs. Pour-Over Will
A will paired with a Revocable Living Trust is structured differently. It is called a “pour-over will” and it serves a specific role: catching any asset that was not properly titled into the trust during the grantor’s lifetime. Without a pour-over will, untitled assets default to Arizona’s intestate succession rules and may not go to the people the grantor intended.
For an explanation of how the trust works, see Understanding Your Revocable Living Trust.
Why DIY Wills Often Fail
The most common DIY will mistakes:
Improper execution. Arizona requires specific witnessing and notarization standards. Wills that do not meet them can be contested or thrown out entirely.
Outdated beneficiaries. People update their will but never update the beneficiary designations on their accounts. The accounts win.
Missing guardian provisions. Wills downloaded online often have weak or generic guardian language that creates conflict between extended family members.
No backup executor. The named executor dies, moves, or refuses to serve. Without a backup, the court appoints one.
Who Should Be the Executor
The right executor is someone who is:
Financially organized and detail-oriented
Willing to commit 6 to 18 months of part-time effort
Geographically accessible to Arizona’s probate court
Able to communicate with potentially difficult family members
Not embroiled in the inheritance dispute themselves
Many people default to “my oldest child” without asking whether that person actually meets these criteria. Often a different family member, friend, or professional fiduciary is the better choice.
When to Update a Will
Every will should be reviewed after major life events:
Marriage or divorce
Birth or adoption of a child
Death of a named heir or executor
Major change in assets (home purchase, inheritance, business sale)
Move to a different state
Significant change in family relationships
A will from a decade ago is almost always wrong. The people, the assets, and the relationships have all changed.
Final Thoughts
A Last Will and Testament is necessary but not sufficient. Every adult should have one. But a will alone is a partial plan, especially for homeowners. The next posts in this series cover what the will does not handle and how to close those gaps.
The son in Gilbert eventually got through probate. The house sold in month 11. The accounts settled in month 14. The legal fees took a real bite out of the inheritance, but the bigger cost was the months his sister spent driving down from Flagstaff for hearings she did not understand and the silence between the two of them every time someone asked what was taking so long. His father’s will did exactly what a will does. The family had assumed it did more. The gap between those two things is what this series is about.
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The next article in the series, Understanding Your Living Will, arrives tomorrow morning.
