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1. Can life insurance take the place of a will?

No. Life insurance is only one kind of property that a person might own. If a life insurance policy is payable to an individual, the will of the insured has no effect on the proceeds. If the policy is payable to the estate of the insured, the disposition of the proceeds may be directed by a will. The careful person will have a lawyer and a life insurance counselor work together on a life insurance program, particularly in the area of estate planning.

2. Who will manage my estate?

If you make a will, you may name the person whom you want to manage the administration of your estate (the executor). If you do not make a will, the probate court will appoint someone (the administrator) to administer your estate.

3. May a person dispose of property in any way by making a will?

Almost, but not quite. For example, a married person can make a will that completely excludes his or her spouse, but the law of Ohio still provides the surviving spouse with an "elective share" in the probate estate. Also, a divorce revokes the portion of a will that refers to leaving property to the spouse who has been divorced. There are certain other restrictions a lawyer can explain.

4. Does a will increase probate expenses?

Not usually. It costs no more to administer an estate when a decedent leaves a will than when there is no will. Often it will cost less. When there is a will, the executor distributes the estate to the parties named in it. When there is no will, the probate court must determine who the legal heirs are and then distribute the estate to them. In either case, an administration under the supervision of the Probate Court is necessary.

A properly drafted will may reduce expenses of administration in a number of ways. Provisions can be placed in wills that take full advantage of the "marital deduction" section of federal estate tax laws. In most cases it is possible to avoid the payment of a bond for the executor by so providing in the will. These examples illustrate that a will can save money for you and your family, if it is drafted by a lawyer who is trained in all phases of probate law.

5. What happens if I don't make a will?

When a person dies without a will, or dies "intestate" as the law calls it, the property of the decedent is distributed according to a formula fixed by law. In other words, if you don't make a will, you don't have any say about how your property will be distributed. In Ohio, for example, if a man dies without a will, leaving 2 or more minor children, the wife would take a fixed sum of money and 1/3 of the remainder of the estate. The widow or other suitable person would need to be appointed guardian of the children by the Probate Court and would need to give the Court a surety bond. When each child reaches age 18, his or her share of the guardianship estate would be required to be made fully available to the child, regardless of his or her maturity level. Such proceedings could cost a lot of money and could create legal problems that might have been avoided had the husband made a will.