His late father didn't use LegalZoom

A will doesn’t just disclose who gets what once you die. it also states who’ll take care of your kids.

Your will should designate primary and secondary guardians.

Have your kids’ guardian act as their fiduciary (i.e., to oversee the money.) Which makes sense, since some of your money will support your kids.

If your estate includes more than a house, a retirement account and life insurance, appoint an adviser or relative as “co-trustee for financial matters” (in other words, to oversee your estate.)

If you die intestate (without a will), the court decides who’ll raise your kids. Probate, guardianship and family law vary among states. In general, judges prefer to keep kids in the family. Sometimes, adoptees even get returned to their biological parents. Even if don’t have kids, you still need a will unless you want a judge to decide how to split up your estate. Without a will, typically the order of succession goes like this:

-spouse. Or if you have kids,
-half to spouse, half to kids. Unless you don’t have a spouse, in which case
-kids. If you don’t have kids,
-parents. If they’re dead,
-siblings

And so on, until the state can’t locate any more relatives and just keeps the money for itself.

A will takes a few hours to assemble and a couple of hundred dollars to complete. Totally worth it.