What you leave behind: Tips on drawing up a will and distributing your assets

There are plenty of big decisions involved in creating a will and estate plan, ranging from how to distribute your assets to providing instructions for your legal guardian.

Susan Layton, an attorney with Layton & Southard LLC in Cape Girardeau, says a will is usually planned between a husband wife with assistance from an estate planning attorney. The objectives of a will, she says, are to distribute assets, choose who will be in charge of administering the estate, and/or eliminate the legal requirement for a personal representative to post bond. A will should have two main parts: a plan for distributing the person's assets and the naming of a personal representative, or the person who will administer the estate. The representative must be 18 or older, and the document must be signed by the person making the will and witnessed and attested by two witnesses, says Layton.

"The first steps in putting together a will are to make a list of assets and then a distribution plan of who is to receive those assets," she says. One common misconception is that wills don't normally name who gets what, she adds. Rather, the estate is divided in equal shares among the children, or whoever else the deceased person has named in the will. The personal representative's job is to "halve" the estate via an estate auction or distribution in kind, for example. If you want specific items, such as heirlooms, to go to certain people, you can list them separately on a personal property directive.

"Deciding how you want your estate distributed is entirely personal," says Layton. "Many choose to distribute assets in equal parts between children. Others make distributions to churches or charities. However, if you have specific items to go to specific people, those can be listed on a personal property directive that is attached to your will. You can change these items at any time without having to redo your will. That way, you can change your mind as often as you like without the need for an attorney."

It is also your personal representative's job to file an inventory of your assets. For this reason, says Layton, it's helpful to make a list of all the financial institutions where you have accounts, your financial representatives, your funeral home of choice if you have a prepaid plan, and anyone else who may be able to help your personal representative account for your assets.