Do You Need a Will?
Everyone needs a Will. While you may attempt to avoid a probate, mistakes are made and it is not always possible. If nothing else, you need a backup in case your plan to avoid probate does not succeed. If you have children who are minors you need a Will to appoint a guardian of your choice to be responsible for your children and their finances. Finally, in some instances it is best to use a Will to distribute some of your assets. A properly drafted Will usually allows for a trouble-free, informal probate by your survivors, and can help them avoid a costly bond and costly court hearings to determine the heirs.
A Will is the primary tool for providing for the care of your children and their finances if you and/or your spouse die. If you don't have a Will, a judge will then decide who will be responsible for your childrens' well-being until they become adults. Do you want to decide who the guardian of your children is or do you want a judge to make this decision? If you want to make that decision, you need a Will.
If you have any property that is not formally jointly owned with another person as a joint tenant, a judge will determine how it is distributed according to the intestate rules of the State of Minnesota then in effect. Do you want to decide how your property is distributed or do you want the intestate rules of the State of Minnesota to make that decision? While you may attempt to put all of your property into joint tenancy to avoid this problem, you may not be able to do so with all of your assets or you may make a mistake (many a probate battle has been fought over a deed that wasn't properly drafted) or miss a property. In any case, if you want to decide how your property is distributed in case it has to go through a probate, you need a Will.