To draft a will, you need four categories of information ready: who you and your immediate family are, a complete picture of what you own and what you owe, the full legal names of everyone who will inherit or take on a role, and any special instructions you want followed after your death. Knowing what information you need for a will before you sit down with an attorney or an online drafting tool keeps the process moving and reduces the chance that something important gets missed. Most of the work is gathering; the decisions come easier once the facts are in front of you.
Personal and Family Identification
Start with your full legal name as it appears on your government-issued ID, your current residential address, and your marital status. If you’re married, add your spouse’s full legal name.
Then list every child you want mentioned, including adopted children and stepchildren you intend to provide for. Record each child’s full legal name and date of birth. This matters more than it looks. If a child is left out of a will unintentionally, most states have “pretermitted heir” laws that give the omitted child whatever share they would have received if you had died without a will at all. These protections apply automatically unless the will itself shows you deliberately chose to leave that child out.1Legal Information Institute. Pretermitted Heir The safest practice is to name every child in the document, even one you’re intentionally excluding, so a court doesn’t have to guess whether the omission was a mistake.
A Complete Inventory of What You Own
A will can only distribute what you actually own, so building a full inventory is the most time-consuming part. You don’t need to put every account number into the will itself. Wills become public records once they go through probate, and publicizing account numbers creates security risks. What you need is enough detail that your executor can identify and locate everything, with the sensitive specifics kept in a separate file for your executor.
Real Estate
List every property you own by its full street address: primary home, vacation homes, rental properties, vacant land. Keep deeds, mortgage statements, and title documents in a separate secure file rather than inside the will.
Financial Accounts and Investments
Record the name of every bank, brokerage, or credit union where you hold accounts, including checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, brokerage accounts, and annuities. Keep account numbers in your executor’s separate inventory, not in the will.
One category to flag now, because people get it wrong often: retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs, along with life insurance policies, typically pass directly to whoever you named on the beneficiary designation form, not through your will. If you listed an ex-spouse as beneficiary ten years ago and never updated the form, that account goes to your ex regardless of what the will says. Pull up each beneficiary designation and make sure it matches your current intentions.
Personal Property and Vehicles
Itemize anything of meaningful value: vehicles, jewelry, artwork, collectibles, firearms, antiques. Use descriptions clear enough that there’s no confusion about which item you mean. “The diamond engagement ring inherited from my grandmother” works; “a ring” does not. VINs and serial numbers belong in the executor’s file, not the will.
Business Interests
If you own all or part of a business, gather the business name, the type of entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation), and your ownership percentage. Also pull together any buy-sell agreements or operating agreements that restrict transfers of your interest. Your estate attorney needs to coordinate the will with those existing contracts, and the paperwork saves everyone time.
Digital Assets
Online accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, digital media libraries, domain names, and revenue-generating websites or social media accounts all count. Most states have adopted versions of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which lets your executor manage digital accounts after your death, but only if your will or other estate documents authorize it. List digital assets by type and platform in the will. Never put usernames or passwords in the will itself; store credentials in a secure password manager or encrypted document, and tell your executor how to reach it.
Debts and Liabilities
You don’t need to itemize every credit card balance or medical bill. The standard approach is a general clause directing your executor to pay all valid debts from estate funds, and the executor will inventory and verify debts during administration.2Federal Trade Commission. Debts and Deceased Relatives What helps is a separate list of creditors, loan accounts, and recurring obligations so your executor doesn’t have to reconstruct it from old mail. If you have a mortgage, note which property it’s attached to and where the loan documents are stored.
Beneficiaries and How to Identify Them
Every person or organization receiving something from your estate needs to be identified clearly enough that there’s no ambiguity. For individuals, use full legal names and their relationship to you, such as “my daughter, Sarah Marie Johnson.” For charities, use the exact legal name and the organization’s address or tax ID number, since many organizations have similar names.
You’ll designate beneficiaries in three tiers:
- Primary beneficiaries receive your assets first. You can leave specific items to specific people (“my 2024 Toyota to my son David”) or divide your estate by percentage.
- Contingent beneficiaries are backups who inherit if a primary beneficiary dies before you or can’t accept the gift. Without them, a failed gift often falls into the residuary estate or passes under intestacy rules.
- Residuary beneficiaries receive everything left over after specific bequests are fulfilled and debts and taxes are paid. This catch-all matters more than people expect, because assets you acquire after writing the will and forget to specifically bequeath end up here.
Information for Your Executor and Guardians
Executor
The executor (called a “personal representative” in some states) manages your estate after you die: gathering assets, paying debts, filing tax returns, and distributing what’s left. Gather the full legal name and current contact information for your first choice, plus at least one alternate.
Check eligibility before you commit to a name. Many states restrict or complicate the appointment of out-of-state executors. Some require nonresidents to post a bond, appoint a local agent, or serve alongside a co-executor who lives in the state. A handful of states limit nonresident executors to people related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption. Felony convictions and being a minor also disqualify someone in most jurisdictions.
Executors are typically entitled to compensation, often calculated as a percentage of the estate’s value, with rates that generally fall in the 1% to 5% range depending on the state. Decide now whether your executor receives compensation or serves without pay, and have the will address it so there’s no confusion later.
Guardians for Minor Children
If you have children under 18, naming a guardian is one of the most consequential things your will does. You’ll need the full legal name of your preferred guardian and at least one alternate. Courts give heavy weight to the parent’s choice, though they’re not absolutely bound by it if circumstances have changed dramatically. Weigh the person’s age, health, financial stability, parenting style, and willingness to take on the role. Have the conversation with your chosen guardian before you finalize the will.
Special Instructions You Want Followed
A will can go beyond asset distribution. If any of the following apply to you, gather the details before drafting.
Funeral and burial instructions are common inclusions: cremation versus burial, specific cemeteries, religious customs, memorial service preferences. Wills are sometimes not read until days or weeks after death, so communicate these wishes directly to your executor or family members as well.
Pet care provisions let you name a caregiver for your animals and set aside funds for their expenses. Some states also allow enforceable pet trusts, which give a trustee legal responsibility to spend the money on the animal’s care.
Charitable bequests should identify each organization by its full legal name and specify whether you’re leaving a dollar amount, a percentage of the estate, or a specific asset. Vague descriptions like “my favorite charity” invite disputes.
A no-contest clause (sometimes called an “in terrorem” clause) penalizes any beneficiary who challenges the will by stripping their inheritance. Enforceability varies by state. Some enforce these clauses strictly; others won’t uphold them if the challenger had reasonable grounds. If you anticipate family conflict, raise it with your attorney.
Assets That Pass Outside Your Will
Not everything you own moves through your will, and treating the will as the single document that controls your estate is a frequent mistake. Retirement accounts, IRAs, and life insurance policies pass by beneficiary designation. Jointly titled property often passes to the surviving owner by operation of law. Pulling your beneficiary designation forms into the same review as your will keeps the two from pointing in different directions.
Legal Limits You Should Know Before You Draft
You don’t have unlimited freedom to distribute your estate however you want. Two legal doctrines regularly override the terms of a will, and knowing about them upfront saves you from writing provisions that won’t survive a challenge.
Spousal Elective Share
Most states give a surviving spouse the right to claim a minimum share of the deceased spouse’s estate, regardless of what the will says. This elective share commonly ranges from 30% to 50% of the estate depending on the state. If your will leaves your spouse less than the elective share, your spouse can reject the will’s terms and claim the statutory minimum instead.
Protections for Omitted Children
Pretermitted heir statutes protect children left out of a will. In some states, only children born after the will was written are protected; other states extend protection to all children, including those alive when the will was drafted.1Legal Information Institute. Pretermitted Heir If you genuinely want to leave a child nothing, say so explicitly. A short statement acknowledging the child and indicating that the omission is intentional prevents the statute from kicking in.
When to Revisit the Information You Gathered
A will isn’t a document you write once and forget. The information you collected the first time has an expiration date on it. Any of the following should prompt at least a review:
- Marriage or divorce. In many states, marriage automatically revokes an existing will. Divorce may invalidate provisions benefiting your ex-spouse, but the rules vary, so don’t assume the law fixes it for you.
- Birth or adoption of a child. A new child not mentioned in the will could trigger pretermitted heir statutes and disrupt your intended distribution.
- Death of a beneficiary or executor. If your contingent beneficiary has now become your primary, or your named executor has died, the will needs to reflect current reality.
- Significant change in assets. Buying a home, selling a business, receiving a large inheritance, or any major financial shift can make existing bequests unworkable.
- Moving to another state. Execution requirements, community property rules, and elective share percentages differ by state.
- Change of heart about a key person. If you no longer trust your executor, guardian, or a beneficiary, update the will promptly.
Even without a triggering event, reviewing your will every three to five years is sound practice. For minor changes, a codicil (a formal amendment) may be enough. For anything more substantial, drafting a new will with a clause that expressly revokes all prior wills is cleaner and less likely to cause confusion during probate.