Death, a topic most of us seldom want to think about much less plan. The reality is, that if we fail to plan for what happens when we die, what happens when we die is that others decide important matters for us. Important matters like what happens to the material assets we have accumulated during our lifetime and who raises any minor children we may have at the time of our death. You read about sensational court cases where custody battles are splashed over newspapers worldwide and the Internet is ablaze with new about who get a recently departed Hollywood star's baby. It is at times like these, that we realize that we do have to think about and plan for financial and legal matters concerning our death. A third and often times very important legal issue at the time of dying is whether or not certain medical procedures can be performed on you, should you be unable to communicate with the doctors, nurses and close family members? All of these very important issues that come up at the time of your death can be directed by you before that time if you plan your legal affairs.

Planning legal affairs includes making a will and doing estate planning, making a health care directive, a conservatorship, constructing a durable power of attorney for finance and also a durable power of attorney for health care. All of these legal documents have very specific purposes that protect your interest at this important last phase of your life.

A legal document that allows you to specify how you wish your property and assets to be divided up upon your death is called a will. The will can also specify how your children (if you have any) should be handled when you die. Without a will each state has a default method to determine division of property and handling of minor children of the deceased. Will avoid the lengthily and expensive process of probate. A court makes a plan as to how to distribute assets and the placement of minor children with guardians. This is a long process that can take months and sometimes years, during which time financial strain and emotional stress is put on the surviving family members and on the estate.

Trusts can be established as part of the process of making a will and doing the estate planning. You can also designate gifts to heirs or decide how much to give to charitable organizations. Gifts and charitable donations reduce the amount of taxes due at time of death.

There are several ways to make a will: you can use a lawyer, a paralegal or use a do-it-yourself form. The do-it-yourself forms are available in paper or software formats from publishers. Complex property issues or if there is inheritance issues that involves tax it may be good to hire a lawyer. Many states require a Notary Public to witness the signing of the will in order for it to be recognized in a court of law.