Planning a will is crucial, even if you don't have a lot

— -- When pop music legend Michael Jackson died at age 50, he left behind three young children, millions of dollars of debt and assets that may be worth more than $1 billion. He also left behind a five-page will written in 2002 that named a guardian for his children and executors to sort out his vast and complicated estate.

We all should take such care, but survey after survey has shown that the majority of us do not.

"The reason why people don't do wills is probably just some sense of immortality," says Sally Hurme, an attorney and senior project manager for AARP.

Wills and estate planning don't have to be complicated, and for the vast majority of us, they're not and can be done relatively cheaply and conveniently — even at home.

Who needs a will?

In general, everyone needs a will.

Living wills, powers of attorney and doctor authorizations should be established, too, but the focus here is narrower: end-of-life planning. Succession laws vary by state and circumstance, which is why having a will is a good idea. If you don't control what happens to your property, children, favorite piece of jewelry and so forth, the state will. And that can lead to imperfect and sometimes costly decisions in probate court, which is where the distribution of a person's estate occurs.

Parents of young children should have a will for one major reason: to establish a guardian. A trustee also should be named to manage money or any property left for young children. If parents change their minds over time about guardians, it's easy to change or destroy an original will and write a new one.

If you're an unmarried couple with or without children, a will is also quite important. Under most states' laws, if one partner dies without a will, it's as if the other partner doesn't exist. "Your partner would get nothing," says Mary Randolph, an attorney at Nolo Press, publisher of self-help legal guides and software. "It would go to your parents or possibly to your siblings."