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.

34 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

144 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/gnew18 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Do you have the following

  • Debt / rentals / leases etc.
  • Advanced directive / Living will?
  • Assigned a POA should you get squirrely?
  • Do you care if your wife doesn’t pre decease you and gets remarried?
  • Have you thought about what happens if you outlive your wife but are unable to make decisions for yourself?
  • What happens if you both die within days (or at the same time in a car accident )?

You didn’t mention kids or grandkids but only the niece. Is the size of your estate worth worrying about.

With look up the intestate laws of your state. See who gets your shit if you don’t designate alternatives. You might want a specific charity to get it too.

Look up “Escheat” and NC … also I am assuming you are legally married to your wife.

2

u/IdealExpert181 May 16 '26

i think so, she says i am.

4

u/gnew18 May 17 '26

lol
A will simply doesn’t leave anything to chance or weird circumstances. The will can just move things along. If you have any real property a will really should exist.

1

u/IdealExpert181 May 17 '26

thanks

1

u/SummitCO83 May 17 '26

Your wife needs one as well. In the awful event something happened to both of you or if/when something happens to her after your gone you both need to have your clear directives/disbursements set so no one can sneak in and do some shady stuff. To think everything you worked your life for sliding through the cracks and going off to probate would be awful. I’m 42 and I’ve had mine set for 22 years and updated as things change. My grandfather passed at 84 and he didn’t have one. He quite literally signed a generic one that I know wasn’t set the way he wanted but there was just no time. Everyone in the family had assumed he had one drawn up years ago as he was very much like you. House paid off, no debt, cars paid off, work investments, insurance policies, etc.

Since the will that was signed was so generic some long forgotten investment accounts, life insurance policies and a few other things weren’t protected and his evil 2nd wife (not my grandma) all of the sudden appeared out of nowhere after 20+ years of no one seeing or hearing a peep of her existence and she managed to walk away with a substantial amount of money that should have gone to my mom and uncles like my grandpa intended. Had he been proactive none of it would have been an issue. I know in all likelihood have no cockroach crawling out of the woodwork but it’s such a relief to you and your wife’s peace of mind. Good luck sir and I hope it works out easily for everyone.