Like many people, you might not like to think about death, so you’ve put off getting your affairs in order. If you wait too long, though, your loved ones may be left behind to deal with what happens if you die without a will. To ensure you’re well prepared and they’re well protected, find out what you can and can’t include in your will.

What is a will?

A will is a legal document in which you declare who will receive or manage specific parts of your estate upon your death. Some details should always be included in your will, such as who becomes the guardian of your children, if you have any who are underage when you pass, and who inherits property you own. But did you know that some items can’t be covered in your will?

What you can’t put in your will

“A will generally creates a one-time transfer of property when you die. You generally do not have the ability to say what that property can be used for. If you want to have more control over what happens to property after you die, you may need to create a trust,” says Michael Horn, attorney with Horn Law Offices in Des Moines, Iowa.

Horn says specific assets also can’t be included in a will:

• One of the things a will won’t do is designate care for someone with special needs because it will affect their government benefits. Instead, you can create a special needs trust to hold money for their care.
• Animals can’t be assigned to inherit money, but you can leave money — and pets — to someone who has agreed to care for them. You can also set up a pet protection agreement.
• Joint-tenancy properties can’t be transferred. They pass automatically after your death because of legal ownership.
• Funds from payable-on-death accounts, retirement accounts, or life insurance policies that already list a beneficiary can’t be distributed.
• Investment products, such as stocks and bonds that are meant to be transferred to beneficiaries, can’t be listed in your will.

Though these assets aren’t covered by a will, different legal documents can be drawn up for them.

Can you avoid probate with a will?

After you die, your will goes through probate — the court-supervised process in which your assets are distributed — and it can be time-consuming and expensive. This is in addition to the standard list of what needs to be done when someone dies and forms that need completed after a person dies. To ease the burden on your loved ones, you can try to avoid the probate process through estate planning.

Why you need advance funeral planning

Having a will is a good starting point to having your affairs in order, but it isn’t always enough to guarantee that all your wishes will be carried out exactly the way that you want after you pass. Wills are usually read after funeral services have already taken place, so any funeral wishes included in the will become irrelevant. Instead of providing funeral arrangements in your will, consider advance funeral planning with Preneed Funeral insurance.

Advance funeral planning gives you the ability to plan and pay for your funeral yourself. You sit down with a funeral director and plan out every product and service you want for your funeral. The funeral director tallies up the price of your proposed funeral, and that is how much you pay for your Preneed Funeral insurance policy. You can make a single, one-time payment, or you can choose to pay through premiums. 

With advance funeral planning, you can have a say in how you are remembered and rest easy knowing that your loved ones won’t have the burden of planning a funeral while they’re grieving.

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Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. It is meant to give you general information and a basic understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice. By using this website, you understand that there is no attorney/client relationship between you and the publisher, and any statement is solely the author’s. This website or article should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state or jurisdiction. This article is not published for advertising or solicitation purposes. Regardless, the hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.

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