What Age Should You Make a Will? (Hint: Younger Than You Think)
Most of us assume wills are for older adults. Here's the actual legal minimum age to make a will — and the life events that make it suddenly urgent, no matter how young you are.
By Willy Team · July 15, 2026 · 4 min read
If you ask what age you should make a will, you probably expect the answer to be somewhere in your 50s — when you have a house, kids, and a 401(k) worth caring about. The actual answer is 18.
Not 40. Not when you buy property. Not when you get married. Eighteen. Here's why.
The legal minimum age to make a will
In almost every U.S. state, you must be 18 to make a legally valid will. A few states allow it younger under specific circumstances — if you're married, on active military duty, or legally emancipated. But for everyone else: 18 is the floor.
What this means in practice: the moment you turn 18, you have the legal right to decide what happens to your belongings, your digital accounts, and your pets if you die. And the moment you turn 18, you have the legal ability to do so.
The question isn't whether you're old enough. The question is whether you have anything worth protecting — and most 18-year-olds do.
Why young adults actually need wills
We assume wills are about money. They're not, exactly. They're about decisions. And you have plenty of decisions that need to be made:
Who gets your stuff. Even if you don't own a house, you own things. A car. A laptop. Savings. A collection of something. Clothes and furniture. Without a will, all of it gets distributed by state intestacy laws — a formula that probably doesn't reflect your actual wishes.
Who gets your pet. Pets are considered property under the law. Without a will naming a guardian, whoever inherits your estate inherits your dog — even if that person has no interest in or ability to care for an animal.
What your partner receives. If you're not married, your partner has no legal claim to anything you own. None. An unmarried partner of 10 years gets treated the same as a stranger by intestacy law. A will changes that.
Your digital assets. Crypto wallets, social accounts, creative work — these don't transfer automatically. Without instructions, they may be inaccessible or lost.
The life events that make it urgent
Even if you're 18 and living with your parents with no assets, certain moments shift the math:
Getting your first real job. You now have income, maybe a 401(k), maybe life insurance through work. You need beneficiary designations and a will to make sure those assets go where you want.
Moving out on your own. Your lease, your belongings, your financial independence — all of it has to go somewhere if something happens.
Getting a pet. This one might surprise you — naming a pet guardian is one of the most common reasons young adults finally make a will.
Starting a serious relationship. Especially if you're living together but not married. Your partner has zero legal protection without a will.
Accumulating anything you'd actually miss. Crypto, a car, a vintage collection, a savings account with a real balance.
You don't need all of these to be true. Any one of them is a good enough reason.
What happens if you don't have a will
Your state has default rules. They're called intestacy laws, and they distribute your estate based on your legal relationships — spouse, children, parents, siblings, extended family — in a fixed order.
These rules were written for a traditional family structure that most young adults don't have. They don't account for long-term partners, chosen family, or specific wishes about your pet or your possessions.
If something happened to you today, who would get your stuff under your state's formula? If the answer isn't who you'd choose, that's your reason.
How long does it actually take?
With an online platform, about 10–15 minutes. You answer questions about your assets, your beneficiaries, your executor, and your pets. The platform generates a legally formatted document. You print it, sign it in front of two witnesses, and you're done.
The signing is often the step we skip. Don't. A will that isn't signed and witnessed isn't a will — it's just a document with your wishes on it that a court will ignore.
The right age to make a will is 18 — or whenever you first have something worth protecting. [Start yours here](/create-will).