Do You Need a Will in Your 20s? Honest Answer + What It Costs

How many under-35s actually have one?

About 22%of U.S. adults under 35 have a will, per the Caring.com 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Survey. Across all adults, only 24% have one — down from 33% in 2022. So if you don't have a will, you're very much in the majority. That doesn't make it the right call. It just means most people are quietly underestimating how much it matters.

What happens if you die without one

This is called "dying intestate." Each U.S. state has its own intestate succession law that decides who gets your stuff. The default rules are usually:

• If you're married with no kids: most goes to your spouse, sometimes split with parents.
• If you're unmarried with no kids: it goes to your parents, then siblings.
• If you have a long-term partner you never married: they get nothing by default in most states.
• If you have minor children: a court chooses their guardian, not you.

On top of that, your estate goes through probate— a court process that typically takes 6 to 12 months and costs $3,000 to $8,000 (sometimes more in high-cost states). Your family can't access most of your accounts during that period. They might not be able to pay your rent or your phone bill.

What "estate" means for someone in their 20s

People skip wills in their 20s because they think they don't have an estate. They almost always do. Common assets that count:

• Money in checking and savings accounts
• 401(k), Roth IRA, traditional IRA balances
• Brokerage accounts and crypto
• Vehicles and their titles
• Apartment lease (and whatever's in it)
• Pets (legally property, weirdly)
• Digital assets — Apple/Google accounts holding photos and access

If you're thinking "but I have $5,000 in my checking account, that's not worth a will," the math is wrong. The cost isn't the size of the estate — it's the legal time and stress your family eats trying to access whatever you do have. A will collapses that from months to weeks.

What does a basic will actually cost?

Three reasonable options:

• FreeWill — free for basic wills. Funded by nonprofits that benefit from charitable bequests; no obligation. Good fit for simple estates.
• Trust & Will or LegalZoom — paid services in the $69-$200 range. More guidance, more polish, more options for complex situations.
• An estate-planning attorney — typically $300-$1,000+. Worth it if you have a complex situation: business ownership, blended family, significant assets, special-needs beneficiaries.

Pricing changes — verify current rates with each provider before signing up. The point is that for most under-35s, the cheapest option is enough.

The other thing most people forget: beneficiaries

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts override your will. If your 401(k) lists your ex from college as the beneficiary because you opened the account at your first job and never updated it, that money goes to your ex regardless of what your will says.

Spend 30 minutes auditing every account that has a beneficiary field. This is the highest-impact estate task most people skip. The will is half of it; the beneficiary designations are the other half.

If you have minor children, this isn't optional

With kids, a will is the only way you get to choose who raises them if both parents die. Without it, a court — likely the surrogate's court in your county — chooses based on whoever petitions first. That can be a sibling you don't trust with money, or a parent who's no longer in good health. The five minutes spent naming a guardian in a will prevents a fight that's most likely to happen at the worst possible time.

What to do this week

1. Pick a basic-will service (FreeWill is fine for most). Block one hour. Write the will. Print and sign in front of two witnesses (most states require this; FreeWill walks you through it).
2. Audit beneficiaries on your 401(k), IRA, life insurance, and any payable-on-death bank accounts. Update anything that's wrong.
3. Make a one-page document listing your bank accounts, retirement accounts, insurance policies, subscriptions, and where your important documents live. Don't put passwords in it. Share the location with one trusted person.
4. If you have kids: pick a guardian and a backup guardian. Talk to them first. Put it in the will.

Total time: about 90 minutes. Total cost: $0 to $200 for most people.

Sources cited: Caring.com 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Survey (24% of adults / 22% of under-35s have a will, down from 33% in 2022); American Bar Association estate planning resources and multi-state probate cost / time averages. This article is for educational purposes and is not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney in your state before making decisions about your estate.