A Will is a legal document stating what you want to happen to your assets when you die.
Dying without a Will can lead to a large portion of your assets being claimed by government agencies, as well as disputes among family members.
This holiday season, legal experts say people should take some time out to write a Will and remove any future legal and financial burden from others.
Aaron Zelman is joint CEO of online Will service Willed.
"The statistics are that it's roughly one in two Australians adults don't have a Will in place which means everyday people are dying, there is no Will, or people can't even find the Will and they're having to go to court to work out how their assets are split. It creates a lot of uncertainty, a lot of worries, a lot of delays, a lot of cost as well when you're going to court to sort these things out. It's a very expensive process and it could really just be avoided by simply writing that Will."
Dying without a will is called dying 'intestate'.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia's financial services regulator, estimates that nearly half of Australians die intestate.
That can result in government agencies taking up to 30 per cent of an estate.
Brendan Rothschild says people don't necessarily need to spend hundreds of dollars to get a Will prepared.
"The cost of doing a Will is actually quite low. There is a law that says a Will written on a napkin is considered a valid Will. So anyone can write a Will, you do not need a lawyer to sort out a Will for you. Lawyers do help with Wills, the main reason why people get lawyers to assist with Wills is in the event of an argument, it's more likely your Will is going to be upheld if it's been drafted and signed in front of a lawyer."
If you choose not to work with a solicitor, you can engage a 'public trustee' or statutory authority.
