Studies show that people claim to fear public speaking more than death. In fact, I have a favorite joke about two prisoners about to die on the gallows and one nudges the other to say: “You know, this is worse than public speaking.”

I secretly believe that it’s not that people fear public speaking more, it’s that they don’t really believe they are going to die. Supporting my theory, many people have never hired a lawyer to prepare the most basic legal document—a will.

To know whether you, in particular, need a will, it is helpful to understand what happens to your property when there is no will.

If you have assets that are held in common with another person with a right of “survivorship,” those assets will pass automatically on your death to the other person. Assets most commonly held in this form are bank accounts and real property, especially homes owned by husbands and wives.

Any asset that passes by beneficiary designation does not require a will. The most common form of this asset is life insurance. Also some pension benefits will be passed along to a designated beneficiary.

Tennessee has a system

Almost all other assets—real property, cash, and personal property—are distributed by a method set out in Tennessee statutes governing “intestate succession,” when the owner dies without a will.

If the person who dies, the “decedent,” has a surviving spouse and no descendants, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate.

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and one or more children, the spouse gets one-third of the estate or a share equal to that of each child, whichever is greater.

In other words, if there is one child, spouse and child get one-half each; with 2 children, the spouse and children get one-third each; with 3 children, the spouse gets one-third and the 3 children split the remainder.

If the decedent’s child has died first and leaves children (the decedent’s grandchildren), those children split the parent’s share.

If a decedent leaves no spouse or children, his or her estate will go one-half to each parent. If the parents are not alive, the estate goes to the decedent’s brothers and sisters.

Adopted children are treated the same as natural children, but stepchildren and foster children have no inheritance rights.

If a person has property that will pass by intestate succession, the lack of a will can impose additional administrative burdens on heirs. Unless waived by all heirs, the estate will have to post a bond and file an inventory of assets and an accounting. A will can dispense with these administrative steps.

Of course, people with substantial assets can minimize the taxes that their heirs will pay by proper estate planning. If you have been postponing having a will drafted, as many people do, now might be the time face reality and get it done.