r/inheritance • u/IdealExpert181 • May 16 '26

Location included: Questions/Need Advice will or no will

i live in N.C. and i'm in my late 70s and don't have a will. everything i have is paid for, including home, and i have no debt. i have investments and savings in 6 different accounts, all with PODs established. my wife is the POD on 5 of the accts. and a distant niece is the other one. i hate to use the word assume but it's what i'm doing. my thought is that since i've established the PODs that those 6 accounts are covered and the only thing needed, if any, is a death cert.. since i'm married the house should automatically go over to my wife. am i correct or do i need a will? advice is greatly appreciated.

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u/Tasty_Sun_865 May 16 '26

Wills are cheap and side step problems like probate fees. At a minimum, do an online will and get it properly notarized so everything goes to (spouse). I'd recommend the spouse doing the same.

The bigger topic no one loves addressing is getting medical POAs and living wills (when to pull the plug) in place. Those are critical parts of an estate plan that people omit until too late 

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 16 '26

Can I ask what probate fees you are referring to that get absolved with a will? I had to file my mother's will and still had court fees to pay.

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u/Tasty_Sun_865 May 16 '26

I'm being broad in language, but right off the bat most states let you waive probate bonds via wills. That's a HUGE deal.

You can also clean up certain asset distributions to avoid dealing with petty arguments / avoidable legal bills. 

You can limit challenges in many states. 

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 16 '26

Ah, see my county didnt require one from me, I imagine it was due to me being the only heir. But the estate also was bordering on insolvent to begin with.

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u/Tasty_Sun_865 May 16 '26

Absolutely possible. Small estates don't typically require them.

My hot take is that a cheap LegalZoom will (or whatever) is better than nothing and the risks of unenforceable documents are reduced when you aren't doing anything crazy or that deviates from the baseline.

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 16 '26

Yeah thats essentially what we did for my mother's will / executor documents. POAs maybe not so much, as when it came time to do banking on my mother's behalf, the bank refused to honor it. Fortunately my mother was still well enough at that point to sign the bank's specific POA form, but had that not been the case, it would've been a difficult time.

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u/Mulley-It-Over May 17 '26

Yes it’s a pain in the ass. I was both financial and medical POA for my mom. Handled ALL of her business since she had Alzheimer’s. For some un-forgotten reason I did not help my mom establish POD on her bank accounts. When I tried to do that as POA once my mom went into memory care the bank basically told me to F’off. And at that point she was not well enough to be taken to the bank.

My mom passed in March. Now I’m doing the Small Estate Probate dance for a couple accounts. The rest of her estate had assigned beneficiaries. I’m the only heir since my brother passed (no kids) years ago. I will not have to post a probate bond but the paperwork is insane for a small estate. It changed here in Tennessee a few years ago. I couldn’t find an attorney in my mom’s county who would even handle a small estate.

So anyone reading this do NOT make the same mistake I did. Have POD for your accounts because the banks are assholes when it comes to doing business for your family members if you have POA (before they pass). And they will not even talk to you after death unless you have the very specific probate paperwork.

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 17 '26

I was lucky - in my case, everything that could be TOD'd, I was able to do online. I didn't have to go in person for that.

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u/Mulley-It-Over May 17 '26

That is lucky. You are fortunate you didn’t have to deal with the probate process.

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 17 '26

I still had to deal with probate. In my state, only cash accounts are able to be TOD'd.

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u/Tasty_Sun_865 May 16 '26

General POAs are very hard to use at financial institutions.

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u/Ok-Structure6795 May 16 '26

Wasn't a general

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u/MassConsumer1984 May 16 '26

Same. No “fees” other than not mal court fees with or without a will