Pittsburgh lawyer Robert Wolf remembers the time years ago when a deceased client's safe deposit box was opened and out fluttered a tiny slip of paper.

The handwritten note read "To my executor," and proceeded to divvy up the woman's assets among her heirs.

The woman had a "meticulously" prepared will, Wolf said. But at some point she apparently decided she needed to clarify something -- without telling her lawyers. The result was anything but clear.

"We didn't know if she was trying to summarize her will, or change it or what," said Wolf, an estate and trust lawyer with Tener, VanKirk, Wolf & Moore, Downtown.

Figuring out her intentions wasn't easy -- or cheap. "It took about three years and tens of thousands of dollars to litigate," draining the estate's considerable assets in the process, he said.

Wolf tells the story as a rebuke to drafters of do-it-yourself wills. But the incident illustrates a larger point -- properly putting your affairs in order is key to carrying out your last wishes. Surveys estimate that up to 70 percent of U.S. adults don't have a will. In Pennsylvania, a 1997 poll by the Center for Survey Research at Penn State University's Harrisburg campus found that 52 percent of respondents had not made a will. The two biggest reasons cited were lack of motivation and the feeling that life is too changeable.

When you die without a will, called being intestate, the state decides what happens to your assets and your children, which may not be the way you envisioned.

For example, in the case of a married couple with children, the estate doesn't all go to the surviving spouse. A share also goes to the kids. The court also probably would appoint a guardian to manage the inherited assets of minor children. That's a surprise to many couples.

"That's why I tell young couples to disinherit children," Wolf said. "They probably want a spouse to handle the money and not go directly to the children."

If both parents die, the state also decides who gets custody of the children.

"Someone would have to petition the court to become guardian. Very often it's not the person you would want," said Charles Foerster, a lawyer at Weisel Xides & Foerster, Downtown, and chair of the probate and trust section for the Allegheny County Bar Association.

In the case of a married couple without children, part of the estate goes to the surviving spouse while a share also goes to any surviving parents of the deceased.

Both Foerster and Wolf contend that virtually everyone should have a will, and not just people with substantial assets.

"People who have the least, can least afford to not have things organized," Wolf said. "They don't have a lot of money to spend on straightening things out later."

The three main objectives of a will are to appoint an executor -- which is someone in charge of carrying out provisions of your will when you die -- name a guardian for your children and designate who gets what. You also can use a will to detail other wishes, such as organ donations, funeral arrangements, charitable gifts and care for a pet.

Certain assets, such as life insurance policies, 401(k) retirement plans, IRAs and bank accounts, typically have designated beneficiaries that supersede instructions in wills. So you'll want to be sure to keep those beneficiary forms up to date.

For a will to be valid, it should be dated, signed at the end and signed by at least two disinterested witnesses, meaning people who aren't inheriting anything.

When it comes to drafting a will, a growing number of people are deciding they don't need a lawyer and instead are turning to online will-making services such as Legalzoom.com and BuildaWill.com, or using a self-help book or home software package.

Is that wise? It can be, according to attorney Ralph "Jake" Warner. The publisher of Nolo Press, the Berkeley, Calif., maker of Quicken WillMaker software, believes most people should be able to handle the task without hiring a lawyer.

"Most of the information people need to make a will is in their own possession," said Warner, a pioneer in the self-help law movement.

"The question is, how hard is it to come up with the standard legal language for wills? It's not very hard. Language for doing that has been in place for something like 500 years."

For most middle-class Americans "it's not a hugely complicated situation," he said.

Going it alone can save a lot. Legalzoom.com advertises standard wills for $59. At BuildaWill, it's $20, while Quicken software costs around $50. That compares to roughly $300 to $500 for the simplest will prepared by an attorney, while more complicated wills can run into the thousands. Wills also need to be updated periodically, which adds to the cost.

Both Forester and Wolf advise against the self-help route. "If you decide to have a tooth taken out, do you need a dentist? It's the same question," Wolf said.

"Going to a Web site and figuring out how to take out your tooth might work, but the chance you are going to do it right is small. It's likely to hurt more if you don't use a dentist."

Foerster advises people with a self-made will to at least have a lawyer review it.

Even Warner recommends that large estates -- those worth more than $1.5 million, which are subject to federal estate taxes -- be handled by a lawyer to help minimize the tax bite. (The amount of an estate exempt from federal taxes rose this year to $1.5 million, up from $1 million, and is scheduled to go up in subsequent years.).

Q&A on wills

Here are answers to some other basic questions about wills:

Q: How do I get started?

A: If you're looking for a lawyer, get referrals from people you trust. The Allegheny County Bar Association offers a referral service for $20. You'll be matched with a lawyer who will provide a 30-minute consultation at no additional charge. Call 412-261-5555 or try the online service at www.acba.org.

Q: What is probate?

A: Probate is a court proceeding. Wills are probated, meaning they are filed with the register of wills, to establish their validity and ensure proper distribution of the estate's assets.

Q: How do I go about choosing an executor?

A: An executor can be a family member, friend, bank or other corporate fiduciary.

The decision is an important one, Wolf said. "Choosing a bad executor is an absolute disaster. We've seen [executors] who have delayed things for years and years. It's terribly costly and fritters away the person's assets."

It helps if the executor is good with numbers, is detail oriented and has the stamina to get things done, he said.

"If there isn't one right choice, have two executors, maybe a family member for input and also someone to move the process along."

Q: How much is an executor paid?

A: Family members are entitled to reasonable compensation, though they often don't take it. Corporate fiduciaries, such as banks and trust companies, have published fees based on the size of the estate. They start at about 5 percent and graduate down to about 2 percent for larger estates.

Q: How often does a will need to be updated?

A: It's a good idea to at least consider revisions any time there's a major change in your assets or finances, change in the tax law or change in your family situation, such as the birth of a child or grandchild, a death, divorce or a move out of state.

Q: What are some of the consequences of not having a will?

A: Without a will, the law substitutes its judgment for yours, including who administers the estate, where your assets go and who gets guardianship of your children.

Q: My estate is less than $1.5 million, so my heirs won't have to pay any federal taxes on their inheritance. Will they owe any state taxes?

A: Depends. Pennsylvania doesn't tax assets going to a spouse or charity. Others will owe state inheritance tax, ranging from 4.5 percent for children to 15 percent for distant relatives and friends. Exceptions include proceeds from life insurance and some retirement benefits, which are exempt from the tax.

Q: If I have a power of attorney, do I still need a will?

A: Yes. Power of attorney only designates someone to handle your assets while you are alive.

In addition to a will, Wolf recommends another document, called a health-care power of attorney and living will, which designates someone to make decisions for you about health care if you are unable to do so and outlines your wishes about medical treatment and end of life care.

Q: What about living trusts? Do I still need a will if I have one?

A: According to the county bar association, living trusts have been heavily marketed as substitutes for wills, often using exaggerated tales of costs and delays involved with administering a will.

"They've been pushed on people who probably didn't need them," Foerster said.

The biggest misconception about living trusts is that they reduce taxes compared with a traditional will. Truth is, the tax consequences, including Pennsylvania inheritance tax and federal estate tax, are the same.

The chief benefits of a living trust are having an estate's assets gathered in a safe place ahead of time, and avoiding probate and the filing fees involved, Wolf said.

Still, the latter is not as important in Pennsylvania as in other states, he said. "In Pennsylvania, the probate procedure isn't that onerous."

Even if you have a living trust, a will is still recommended for distributing any assets that weren't transferred into the trust during your lifetime, he said.

To help clear up any confusion about living trusts, the county bar association offers a free booklet, "The Truth About Probate & Living Trusts in Pennsylvania." Call 412-402-6627 or visit www.acba.org.