How to Write a Will at 25 (and What It Can't Control)

Most people with simple finances can write their own will in an afternoon, for somewhere between $0 and $200. A basic will says who gets your property, who settles your affairs, and who raises your kids or pets if you’re gone. The part most people miss at 25: your biggest accounts probably skip the will entirely, so the beneficiary forms matter just as much.

Quick version

• If you own anything or anyone depends on you, write one. Without it, state law picks your heirs.
• Steps: list what you own, pick heirs and backups, name an executor, name a guardian, sign in front of two witnesses, store it where your executor can find it.
• Your 401(k), life insurance and payable-on-death accounts follow their beneficiary forms, not your will.
• Simple life: DIY online. Kids, a business, a blended family or a big estate: pay an attorney.

Do you even need a will at 25?

Probably yes, if any of these are true: you have money in a bank account, a car, a pet, a partner you aren’t married to, or a kid. If you die without a will, your state’s intestacy laws decide who inherits. The American Bar Association says those default rules usually send property to a spouse and children, and if there are none, to other relatives.

That default works fine for some people. It fails badly if you’d want your money to go to a long-term partner, a best friend, a godchild or a charity, because the state plan doesn’t include them. It also leaves a judge to choose who raises your children.

One exception: if you’re single, have no kids, and nearly everything you own sits in a 401(k) with a named beneficiary, the will is a lower priority this month. Fix the beneficiary forms first (more on that below), then write the will within the year.

How to write a will, step by step

1. Make a one-page inventory. List bank accounts, retirement accounts, any life insurance, your car, valuables, crypto, and pets. Next to each, note whether it already has a named beneficiary. Those items pass outside the will.
2. Pick your beneficiaries, plus a backup for each. Name people clearly (full names, relationship). A backup covers you if your first choice dies before you.
3. Choose an executor and an alternate. This person files paperwork, pays final bills and distributes property through probate. Pick someone organized who’s likely to outlive you, and ask them first.
4. Name a guardian if you have minor children. Nolo recommends naming a personal guardian to raise them and a property guardian to manage what they inherit; one person can fill both roles. You can also name a caretaker for a pet and leave that person money for its care.
5. Draft it with a reliable tool. Use an online service, software, or a will book with plain-English instructions. Keep it typed. Leave out conditions on gifts, funeral instructions, health care wishes (those belong in a health care directive), and gifts left directly to a pet.
6. Sign it the right way for your state. Use the standard method, which works in every state: you’re 18 or older and of sound mind, and you sign in front of two adult witnesses, ideally people who inherit nothing under the will. Some states accept other forms, like an unwitnessed handwritten will, but don’t count on that. Your witnesses don’t need to read it. Most states also let you add a notarized self-proving affidavit, which is optional and speeds up probate. Look up your state’s page on Nolo or your state bar’s site before signing.
7. Store the original and tell your executor where it is. A fireproof box at home works. Wherever you keep it, your executor has to be able to reach it without you.

What a will does not control

A lot of money passes by contract or by title, and the will never touches it.

• Retirement accounts and life insurance: the ABA explains that an IRA or insurance policy payable to a named beneficiary goes to that person regardless of your will. Most 401(k) plans and group life insurance through work behave the same way.
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts and transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts: FINRA warns that a TOD designation supersedes a will. In its example, your will splits a brokerage account between two children, the TOD form names only one, and that child gets it all with no duty to share.
• Property you own jointly with right of survivorship goes straight to the surviving owner.

So the forms are often the main event, and the will is the backstop for everything without one. If you named a parent on your 401(k) at your first job and you’re now married, the parent still gets the money until you change the form.

DIY, attorney, or not yet: pick your lane

What the pros say

• Mary Randolph, a Nolo author on wills and probate, writes that most people don’t need a lawyer to make a basic will. She lists when one is worth it: a large estate that may owe estate tax, owning a small business, arranging long-term care for a beneficiary, fear that someone will contest the will, or wanting to disinherit a spouse.
• Betsy Simmons Hannibal, an attorney and Nolo author, spells out the baseline Nolo lists for a valid will (age 18, sound mind, a signed document, two witnesses who won’t inherit). She explains that a self-proving affidavit is optional and saves your executor from tracking down witnesses during probate, though DC and Ohio don’t offer one.
• Jeff Burtka, an attorney and Nolo author, puts attorney costs anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on where you live and how complicated your situation is. He tells you to ask up front whether the lawyer bills a flat fee or by the hour, and to get the fee in writing.
• Toby Mathis, an attorney who teaches tax and asset protection, walks through a Supreme Court case where a federal employee divorced, remarried and never updated his life insurance form, so the ex-wife kept the payout. His point: the beneficiary form usually wins over the will, the trust and what the family says you wanted.

Gear that helps

We researched these three options and compared their published prices and features; we did not buy and test every one.

Do this this week

• Log in to your 401(k) or IRA and confirm a primary and a backup beneficiary.
• Check any life insurance through work in the same benefits portal where you pick a health plan (see what a deductible is while you’re there).
• Ask your bank to add a payable-on-death beneficiary to checking and savings.
• Write your one-page inventory.
• Ask one person to be your executor and another to be the alternate.
• Pick your lane from the table and block two hours to draft. If you just started a job, do it the same day you fill out your W-4.