Creating a Will in Your 30s: Why I Didn't Wait Until Retirement

September 24, 2025

It wasn’t about wealth or age. It was about responsibility—and peace of mind.

Introduction
Why I Decided to Create a Will in My 30s
What I Thought a Will Was (vs. Reality)
How I Got Started: The Planning Phase
Key Decisions I Had to Make
Challenges I Faced and How I Overcame Them
The Legal Process: Making It Official
Peace of Mind: The Unexpected Benefits
Why Everyone in Their 30s Should Consider a Will
Expert Tips: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

1. Introduction

If you’re in your 30s and haven’t made a Will yet, you’re not alone. I hadn’t either until something shifted. It wasn’t a health scare or an inheritance. It was just life getting more complicated.

By the time I hit 34, I was married, had a young daughter, owned a home and was co-running a small business. I had responsibilities, people who depended on me and assets I’d worked hard to build. Still, writing a will felt like something for “later” something older people did when retirement was on the horizon.

But then I asked myself a hard question: What happens if I don’t wake up tomorrow?

It’s not a question any of us want to linger on. But for the first time, I really sat with it. Not in a morbid way, just realistically. My wife and I had talked about “getting around to it” eventually, but like many couples our age, we kept putting it off. Careers, daycare, mortgage payments, there was always something more urgent.

What changed everything for me was a single story I overheard at a family gathering: a cousin’s friend had passed away in a car accident at 38, leaving behind two kids and no Will. The fallout was messy. Legal delays. Family conflict. Frozen accounts. It was avoidable and painfully common.

So, I made a decision: I wouldn’t leave my family in that kind of situation. That month, I started writing my Will.

What follows is my story, why I did it, how I did it and why I believe everyone in their 30s should seriously consider doing the same.

2. Why I Decided to Create a Will in My 30s

I didn’t wake up one day with a sudden urge to draft a Will. It happened gradually, a buildup of life changes that made it impossible to ignore the “what-ifs.” I had crossed that invisible line between living for myself and being responsible for others.

In my twenties, like most people, I didn’t think a Will was relevant. I wasn’t rich. I didn’t own much beyond a used car and some IKEA furniture. But things changed fast in my thirties. I got married. We bought a modest home in the suburbs. We had a daughter. I became a co-owner in a small digital business. Without realizing it, I had built a life that someone else could be left holding together if I suddenly wasn’t around.

And yet I still didn’t have a Will.

The Myth That Wills Are for Retirees

One of the biggest mental blocks I had to overcome was the idea that Wills were for old people. The word alone felt outdated, like something you only dealt with in your 60s or after your first health scare. But the truth is far simpler and more practical:

A Will isn’t for you. It’s for the people you leave behind.

That shift in thinking changed everything for me. A Will isn’t a sign that you’re expecting the worst. It’s a sign that you care about the people you love enough to make things easier for them if something unexpected happens.

Trigger Moments

A few things nudged me toward action:

Our first child: The moment our daughter was born, everything changed. I wasn’t just responsible for her safety and daily care, I was also now responsible for her future. If something happened to me and my wife, who would raise her? Who would manage her inheritance? The thought of that question being left unanswered in a courtroom made me sick.
Home ownership: Real estate adds a new layer of complexity. If I passed away, what would happen to the house? How would it affect my wife’s ability to stay in it? What if we both died, would it be sold? Who would handle the mortgage and taxes? I didn’t want my family dealing with bureaucracy while grieving.
My business: I’d spent years helping grow a small but successful company. Without a clear succession plan or named beneficiary, my share of the business could’ve ended up in limbo, affecting not just my family but my partners and employees.

The Quiet Guilt

There was also a feeling I didn’t talk about much: guilt. I knew I was procrastinating. I knew it was irresponsible. But I justified it with thoughts like:

“I’m still young.”
“We’ll do it once we finish paying off the line of credit.”
“We can always get to it later.”

The problem is, life doesn’t always give you a “later.” Once I accepted that, I stopped waiting.

3. What I Thought a Will Was (vs. Reality)

Before I actually sat down to plan my Will, I realized I didn’t fully understand what it even was. I had this vague mental picture of an old-fashioned document, sealed in an envelope somewhere, only to be opened by a lawyer in a dark wood-paneled room after someone dies.

Turns out, I was way off.

What I Assumed

I used to think:

A Will was only necessary if you were wealthy or had a complex estate.
It was mostly about money and property.
The process was complicated, expensive and time-consuming.
You needed a lawyer to make it legally valid.

Because of those assumptions, I kept putting it off. I wasn’t a millionaire and I didn’t think my situation was “serious” enough to need legal planning. But once I started researching, I realized how wrong I was.

What a Will Actually Covers

A Will isn’t just about splitting up your money. It’s about making key decisions while you still have control. Here’s what I learned:

You decide who gets your stuff, from your home and savings to personal items like jewelry, vehicles or heirlooms.
You name guardians for your children, which is arguably the most important part for any parent.
You choose an executor, someone you trust to carry out your wishes and handle things like closing bank accounts, paying off debts and filing your final taxes.
You can plan for specific gifts, charitable donations, or even leave instructions about funeral preferences.
You can also include digital assets like online accounts, social media and crypto wallets something most people overlook.

And most importantly, you avoid the government deciding all of this for you.

The Reality Check

If you die without a Will (called dying intestate), the government steps in. The province you live in will follow a set formula to divide your estate regardless of what your relationships or intentions were. Common-law partners can get left out. Family members might fight. And it can take months or even years to resolve.

I realized pretty quickly: not having a Will is its own kind of decision. It’s a decision to let someone else who doesn't know your family, your values, or your story make choices on your behalf.

That’s what finally motivated me to stop thinking of a Will as an intimidating legal document and start seeing it as a simple but powerful way to protect the people I love.

4. How I Got Started: The Planning Phase

Starting a Will felt overwhelming at first, not because it was legally complicated but because it forced me to think about things I’d been avoiding.

What really helped was breaking it down. I told myself, you don’t have to finish it in one day. Just start. So I did.

Taking Inventory—What Do I Actually Own?

The first thing I did was sit down with a notebook and list what I had. And that was a surprising moment because once you write it all out, you realize just how much you’ve built in your 30s.

There was our house, of course. A few savings accounts. A small investment portfolio. Life insurance through work. My share of the business. Even stuff like a car, my tools, my laptop. It wasn’t millions, but it was meaningful.

I also thought about non-financial things like family photos stored in the cloud, passwords, digital subscriptions, even a little cryptocurrency I bought years ago and forgot about. I wouldn’t want any of that to disappear into a void.

It helped to think not just in terms of value but impact. What would actually matter to the people left behind?

Thinking About the People Involved

Once I had a handle on the “stuff,” I turned my attention to the people.

Who did I trust to handle my affairs if I died? That was a heavier question than I expected. It’s easy to assume you’ll name your spouse or sibling but it depends on a lot. Are they good with paperwork? Would they be emotionally capable at the time? Would it put stress on them?

I started thinking about:

Who should be my executor?
Who would I want to take care of my child if both my wife and I passed away?
Who would I leave specific things to?
Who might be unintentionally left out and feel hurt?

These aren’t easy thoughts. But they’re necessary. Planning forced me to confront not just what I wanted to happen but how I could avoid leaving behind confusion or resentment.

Exploring My Options

I didn’t rush to a lawyer immediately. I spent a week just researching. What I found was that there are three main ways to make a Will:

DIY (Do-It-Yourself): Handwritten or typed Wills are legal in most provinces (especially holographic Wills), but they need to follow specific rules to be valid, like being signed in front of witnesses. Cheap, but risky if you miss something.
Online Will Platforms: They’re surprisingly user-friendly and walk you through every step. Affordable, and they usually update with changes in provincial law.
Estate Lawyer: More expensive, but best if your situation is complex like blended families, large assets or unique wishes.

I chose to use an online platform. It felt like the right balance between structure and affordability. It also made the process feel less intimidating I didn’t have to schedule meetings or dig through legal jargon right away.

5. Key Decisions I Had to Make

This was the part that felt the most real. Once I started drafting the Will, it wasn’t theoretical anymore. I had to make actual choices about people, property and priorities. Some were straightforward. Others kept me up at night.

Naming an Executor

The first big decision was naming an executor the person who would carry out my wishes after I died. This role involves everything from gathering your assets to closing your accounts and filing your final tax return.

My initial instinct was to name my wife. But the more I thought about it, the more I hesitated. If I passed away unexpectedly, she’d already be grieving. Would she want the burden of navigating paperwork, deadlines and legal tasks while trying to take care of our daughter?

We talked about it openly. Ultimately, we agreed: we’d name each other as primary executors but we’d also name a backup. In our case, my brother. He’s detail-oriented, calm in a crisis, and we trust him. That gave both of us peace of mind.

Choosing a Guardian for Our Daughter

This was the hardest decision we had to make and the one we delayed the most.

No one wants to imagine not being there for their child. But if something ever happened to both of us, someone would have to step in. Who would that be? Who shared our values? Who would love her like their own?

We had to weigh a lot:

Emotional readiness
Financial stability
Parenting style
Location
Their own family situation

It wasn’t easy. We have loving family members on both sides, but no one’s life is perfectly aligned with ours. Eventually, we chose close friends people who already spend time with our daughter, who love her and who would raise her in a way that felt aligned with our hopes.

Telling them was emotional. But they were honoured and relieved that we’d even had the conversation. That’s when I realized: most people want to know you’ve thought about this stuff.

Deciding How to Distribute Our Assets

Another tough question: what do we actually want to happen with our money and belongings?

We weren’t talking about a massive inheritance. But we had life insurance policies, savings, and a home that had gained value. We needed to figure out:

What happens if one of us dies?
What if we both die?
How is money managed for our daughter if she’s still a minor?

We decided that if one of us died, everything would go to the surviving spouse. If we both passed, everything would be held in trust for our daughter until she turned 25. We could’ve chosen 18, but we agreed that 25 felt like an age where she’d have more maturity.

We also included a few personal touches things like leaving a small amount to a charity we support and giving sentimental items (like my grandfather’s watch) to specific family members.

6. Challenges I Faced and How I Overcame Them

Even with the best intentions, writing a Will wasn’t smooth. There were moments I questioned everything my choices, my priorities, even my readiness to think about death at all. The emotional weight was heavier than the legal side. But facing those challenges head-on was part of the process.

1. Emotional Resistance

The first and biggest challenge was simply sitting down to do it. Death is uncomfortable to think about especially when you’re young, healthy and in the middle of raising a family. At times, I felt superstitious, like writing a Will would somehow invite tragedy.

I had to remind myself: it’s not about preparing for death, it’s about protecting life the lives of the people I love.

One night, I was filling out part of the form about funeral wishes and burst into tears. I wasn’t expecting that. I realized how unprepared I was emotionally not just for the process but for the idea of not being around. My wife and I gave ourselves space. We didn’t rush it. We talked, cried and picked it back up when we were ready.

2. Feeling Unqualified to Decide

It felt strange making huge decisions about things I didn’t feel “expert” in. Should my daughter get her full inheritance at 25? Is that too young? What if the guardian we chose had a life change?

I had to accept something important: you’ll never have all the answers but doing something is better than doing nothing.

A Will isn’t set in stone. You can and should update it over time. That realization took the pressure off. This wasn’t my “forever” plan. It was just the right plan for now.

3. Family Dynamics

Another challenge was thinking through how our choices might affect people emotionally.

What if someone felt hurt that they weren’t chosen as a guardian? Or if they were left out of the will entirely? These aren’t just legal decisions they’re relational. I had to weigh clarity and honesty against the risk of hurt feelings.

We talked through it as a couple. We chose transparency where it made sense and kindness where it didn’t. In some cases, we wrote letters explaining our decisions not because we had to, but because we wanted people to understand the why behind the choices.

4. Legal Uncertainty

Even with an online platform, there were still moments where I wasn’t sure I was doing it “right.” What counted as a valid witness? Did I need notarization? Would this be accepted in my state?

So I called a local estate lawyer not to draft the Will, but to ask a few questions. For a small consultation fee, I got answers and reassurance. That one call made everything feel more solid.

Sometimes it’s worth investing a little to avoid second-guessing later.

7. How It Felt After It Was Done

I didn’t expect the wave of calm that came over me once the Will was signed, printed and properly stored.

I thought I’d feel relief, sure but I didn’t realize just how much mental clutter I’d been carrying around without knowing it. All those what-ifs. All that quiet anxiety. It didn’t disappear, exactly but it quieted down.

It Wasn’t Morbid—It Was Empowering

What surprised me most was that finishing the Will didn’t make me feel closer to death. It actually made me feel more in control of life.

It was a reminder that I’ve built something worth protecting. That I’ve grown up, taken responsibility and made intentional decisions for the people I love. And honestly, that felt good.

There’s this myth that planning for death is depressing. But in reality, it’s the opposite. It’s one of the most loving things you can do for your family. You’re saying: I don’t want to leave you with chaos. I want to leave you with clarity.

My Family Slept Easier, Too

When I told my parents we’d finished our Wills, I saw it in their faces: relief. My dad said, “That’s smart. I wish I had done it when I was your age.” And then he quietly added, “You’ve got your head on straight.”

My wife felt it too. We stopped having those quiet, anxious late-night conversations about “What would happen if…” We’d answered those questions now. We had a plan.

It Changed the Way I Think About Planning

I realized that this was just the beginning not the end of being proactive. We started looking at other parts of our lives with the same mindset:

Do we have enough life insurance?
Should we update our beneficiaries?
Where are our passwords stored?
Who knows about the accounts we have?

Finishing the Will opened the door to better planning across the board. It made us feel more organized, more connected and more prepared.

8. Why It’s Worth Doing Early (Even If You Think You’re Too Young)

When I started talking to friends about writing a Will, the most common response I got was:
“Isn’t that something you do when you’re older?”

But here’s the truth: the people who need a will the most are often the ones who don’t think they do yet.

Most of us in our 30s are in this in-between phase. We’re not brand new adults anymore but we’re not seniors either. We’ve started building things: families, homes, businesses, savings. And while we don’t like to think about dying, the reality is that life happens fast.

Life Changes Fast—Sometimes Without Warning

I’ve seen friends go through health scares in their 30s. I’ve seen unexpected accidents. I’ve seen young parents pass away and leave behind a mess not because they were careless, but because no one wants to believe it could happen to them.

When you're young, it’s easy to assume time is on your side. But time is never promised. That doesn’t mean you live in fear but it does mean you plan with love.

Your 30s Are When You’re Building the Foundation

This is when you’re laying down roots buying property, growing a family, starting careers, saving money. You might not be rich but you’ve built something worth protecting.

A Will isn’t about how much you have. It’s about what would happen to what you have if something happened to you. Who would step in? Who would be affected? Would it bring peace or more pain?

Even just having a simple, updated Will makes a massive difference. It prevents legal complications. It makes life easier for the people already dealing with heartbreak. And it gives you control.

Doing It Young Means Less Regret Later

The longer you wait, the more risk you carry. But doing it now when life is relatively stable makes it easier. You’re not rushing. You’re not reacting. You’re being proactive.

And here’s the best part: you can always update it.

Wills aren’t permanent. They’re living documents that grow with you. So the goal isn’t to write the perfect Will. It’s to write the first one.

9. Final Thoughts: What I’d Tell Someone Who’s Putting It Off

If you’re reading this and you’ve been putting off writing your Will, let me tell you what I wish someone had told me sooner:

You don’t need to be old, rich, or dying to make a Will. You just need to care about the people you’d leave behind.

That’s it.

I used to think it would be complicated, morbid or expensive. It wasn’t. It took a few honest conversations, some emotional work and maybe a weekend of planning. But the peace of mind it gave me was worth so much more than the effort it took.

No one likes thinking about death. I still don’t. But what I do like is knowing that if something ever happened, my family wouldn’t be left scrambling. They’d have a clear plan. And they’d know that I cared enough to leave them with stability instead of questions.

So if you’re unsure, here’s my advice:

Start with a conversation. With your partner, a friend, or even just yourself.
You don’t have to get it perfect. Just get something down.
Think of it as an act of love not a legal chore.

Making a Will in my 30s didn’t make me feel like I was preparing to die. It made me feel like I was preparing to live better knowing that, no matter what happens, my family is taken care of.

And honestly? That’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

10. Expert Tips: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

Now that I’ve been through the process, I can see clearly what would’ve made it easier from the start. These are the things I wish someone had told me practical, emotional and legal insights that would’ve saved time, stress, and second-guessing.

1. Your Will Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated to Be Powerful

I wasted time thinking my Will needed to cover every scenario perfectly. It doesn’t. What matters is that it clearly communicates your wishes and covers the basics guardianship, beneficiaries, executor and asset distribution.

Once you’ve done that, the rest can evolve over time. You can revise. You can adapt. But having a clear starting point puts you in control.

2. Talk About Guardianship Early, Even If It’s Hard

The toughest part for us emotionally was naming guardians for our kids. No one wants to imagine someone else raising their child. But it’s far better to name someone you trust now than leave it up to a court later.

If you and your partner can’t agree right away, don’t panic. Take time. Talk through your values. This isn’t a checkbox this is a meaningful decision.

3. Choose an Executor Who’s Emotionally and Logistically Equipped

It’s easy to default to a family member but the role of executor is a legal responsibility. They need to be organized, calm under pressure and ideally someone who won’t be overwhelmed by grief or family tension. If that’s not a parent or sibling, that’s okay.

Talk to the person before naming them. Let them know what it involves and why you trust them.

4. Don’t Let Perfection Delay You

You don’t need to be a legal expert to get started. I put this off for years because I wanted everything to be “just right.” In hindsight, that was just fear in disguise.

Take the first step. Once you start, momentum builds and clarity follows.

Back to blog