I recently read about someone who was relatively wealthy person, married, had 3 kids and was in his early 40s. His intention was to make a will and leave everything to his wife, but he was tragically killed in a car crash before he could.

When the dust finally settled, the courts ruled that his wife would only inherit $200,000 from her late husband’s estate. The rest was divided equally among his children.

Since his three children were under the age of eight, their portion of the inheritance was placed into a trust that was administered by the court until they turned 18.

Every year, the widow would have to apply for access to that money to pay the bills and care for her growing kids, and every year the courts charged their administration fees, most people don’t realize that your spouse doesn’t automatically inherit your estate.

The lesson here is that the first and most important step in protecting those you love is to make a will. It’s the cornerstone of your estate plan, if you die without a will, the government gets to decide who your beneficiaries are and how your assets will be divvied up.

For a will to be effective, it needs to clearly indicate your wishes, be readily found, and be easily verified by the courts. You must clearly state who will be your executor (the person responsible for carrying out your last wishes and for filing paperwork, including your last tax return), decide who gets your assets, and at what age the beneficiaries will receive their inheritance. Finally, if you have dependent children, you should name a guardian.

When creating a will, it’s best to seek the advice of a notary or lawyer who specializes in will’s. While do-it-yourself templates are better than nothing, they can be easily contested in court. Thankfully, a basic will prepared by a notary or lawyer can cost as little as $500 and can take just a few hours to complete.

One of the most important decisions is choosing your executor. Most people will select their spouse, but you should also choose an alternate, and that can be hard, trying to find a person who is both financially responsible and will have your kid’s best interests at heart, that’s not easy to find, even in a large family.

If it is too hard to find a single friend or family member, consider asking more than one person to step into the essential roles. They don’t have to be accountants or lawyers: they just need to be responsible enough to know when to hire professionals to make those bigger decisions.

When the will is done, make sure you put it in an easy-to-find secure place and tell your executor where it can be found.