No, wills aren’t fun. But they’re important.

If ‘making a Will’ has been one of those things on your long-term to-do list but doesn’t seem to ever become a top priority, you’re not alone; studies show that as many as 74% of Canadians don’t have an up-to-date Will, and about half of Canadians don’t have a Will at all.

I get it. Wills require you (and your family, in many cases) to think about your death which tends to be a subject most of us avoid. If you don’t think of your assets as being particularly valuable or if you assume that your family members are all reasonable and would distribute your estate equitably, it’s hard to justify the time and expense a Will might require.

However – and you knew this was coming – dying intestate (without a Will) can be more problematic than most people realize.

10 things that happen if you die without a Will in Ontario.

1. The law decides how the estate is distributed among your spouse, your parents, your children and your siblings. Your spouse inherits the entire estate if you have no children; even if you have children, your spouse may inherit everything, or the first $200,000 of your assets and the remainder is split equally among your family. If you don’t have a spouse or children, it is distributed to other relatives.