Without a will, a judge you've never met chooses your children's guardian.

If you have minor children and no estate plan, Mississippi law fills in the gaps. A chancery court judge decides who raises your kids. Your 18-year-old receives a lump sum with no guardrails. Your ex-spouse may control the money. None of this requires bad intentions — it just requires the absence of a document.

If you're in your 50s or 60s, the threat is different. Medicare does not cover nursing home care. In Mississippi, that care costs up to $90,000 a year. Without Medicaid planning, one nursing home stay can consume a lifetime of savings — and Mississippi's five-year lookback means planning done too late is planning wasted.