They all apparently died without leaving a will.

It’s at this point that you have that funny feeling that you've forgotten to do something ...

Wills and estate planning are hardly the subject that make people jump up and shout “I have a dream!” but they are very important nonetheless.

I suspect that many of us are in a similar situation to the above celebrities.

I get it, it's boring and is also an uncomfortable reminder of our own mortality, but doing a will is important.

First things first: doing a will doesn't necessarily mean that your will won't be challenged.

In New South Wales it is possible – as avid readers of That’s The Law will know – for certain classes of people to make a claim for provision out of an estate, claiming that adequate provision has not been made for them.

It is also possible (although more difficult and rare) to challenge the validity of the will itself.

Whether or not there is a challenge though a will is important because it shows those left behind your intentions.

For example, if you have that special someone you want to leave your little red corvette specifically to, you need a will.

If a family provision claim is made, the existence of a will is something that the Judge can have regard to in making their decision.

If you die without a will you die “intestate”.

There are rules about how intestate estates are to be distributed which can have wildly different consequences than what you had intended.

For example apparently when Jimi Hendrix died his estate went to his father, when his father died he left his estate to Hendrix's daughter and not Hendrix's son.

An even more horrifying thought, if you die without relatives closer than a first cousin your estate goes to the government.

Another trick to keep in mind, particularly if you did your will four score and seven years ago, is that wills are invalidated by marriage.

So if you did a will before you got married it’s time for an update.

It is possible to get a will kit from newsagents and the like, but it's not recommended.

Another celebrity, Peter Brock, died having made a number of attempts at will kit wills.

The resulting legal action was long and messy, and was probably yet another cause of stress in an already stressful and sad time for his family and friends.

I reckon for the sake of those who can't get enough of your love, go see a lawyer.

While you are at it, it's worthwhile to get a power of attorney and appointment of guardian done at the same time.

These allow the appointed people to make financial and medical decisions for you in the event that you unable to do so.

And no, they can't make you go to rehab if you're able to say, no, no, no.

So the end result?

It's no particularly time consuming or expensive, so if you want no woman no cry, three little birds told me to sort it out and go get a will done.