Do you actually need a will?

If you have minor children, this is settled: a will is where guardians get named, and without one a judge chooses from whoever petitions. For everyone else the answer is still yes, just less urgent: dying without a will means your state's intestacy statute distributes everything by formula, typically spouse and children in fixed shares, which routinely produces outcomes nobody wanted, unmarried partners inherit nothing, estranged relatives can inherit plenty.

Two facts the estate-planning industry undersells. First, beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts override the will entirely, so the highest-value hour in estate planning is updating those forms, especially after a divorce. Second, a basic will is cheap: state-specific software or a flat-fee attorney handles simple situations fine, with a lawyer earning their fee once blended families, real estate in multiple states, or sizable assets appear. Write the simple version now; perfect is the enemy of your kids having a named guardian.