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Using resources like these, you can put together a simple will in under an hour. But be warned: These tools are aimed at those with basic needs. The documents they produce are certainly better than nothing, but if you have a complicated estate (if you own a business or have children by a previous marriage, for instance), your best bet is to contact an attorney.

If you use software or pre-printed forms to create your will, be sure to follow the signing instructions for your state. For more on do-it-yourself estate planning, read this article from the New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/NYT-wills.

A lot of people don't understand what will happen to their property when they die. For example, your retirement account—which is probably your single most valuable asset after your home—is generally not governed by a will; it's covered by a completely different set of rules. (This point is very important, but most people don't realize it.)

If you make your own estate plan, you may not take this sort of thing into account. And many families have been shattered by fighting that happens when a will they thought was legally binding turns out to be invalid because it wasn't properly drafted and witnessed.

A lawyer's job is to make sure everything is done properly, even if you draft the will yourself. Don't risk everything for the sake of saving a few bucks. It's better to have the documents and not need them than to need them and not have them.

Working with an attorney to create a will is fairly simple. Just call one up and say you're interested in planning your estate and that you need more info. He'll probably sit you down for an interview or give you a series of forms to fill out. My wife and I recently had an attorney draft our wills; you can see his blank will-planning document here: http://tinyurl.com/GRS-will.

The more organized you are, the easier the process is. Once the attorney has an idea of what you own and where you want it to go after you die, he'll draw up the paperwork. Though most wills share certain features, the attorney will customize it for your specific needs.

Tip

If you want to know how much an estate plan will cost, ask. The price depends on where you live and how complicated your estate is.

In a way, preparing a will is sort of anti-climactic. There's not a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo or red tape. You simply gather info, answer a few questions, and sign on the dotted line. For some people, there's more to estate planning than just creating a simple will, but for many, it really is this easy.

Once you have a will, keep it someplace safe and accessible, like a safe-deposit box, and let trusted family members know where it is. If your family can't find your will, they can't follow your wishes.

Finally, remember to update your will when things change. For example, when you first draft a will, you might designate your siblings as beneficiaries. If you get married, you'll probably want to change that. And if you get divorced, you'll want to change it again.

Your Money And Your Life: Estate Planning Is No Joke

Matt Haughey is the 37-year-old computer whiz behind the popular site Metafilter.com. Like many young folks, he'd never given much thought to estate planning—it was something for retired people to worry about. Matt and his wife had basic wills, but discussing anything more seemed like a sort of morbid joke.

They're not laughing anymore.

Last fall, without warning, Matt passed out at home and had a seizure. A trip to the ER revealed the bad news: Matt has a brain tumor. "I have a walnut-sized tumor sitting on my pituitary gland, at the base of my brain," he says.

"I was really mad at first. I've done my best to live well and eat right, but this is just one of those random things. Having death issues at 37 sucks. I didn't expect to have to deal with this for another 20 years."

Suddenly, estate planning is a priority. "After I got out of the hospital, we stopped talking about it and started doing something," Matt says.