One thing I learned in business law is that probate law is not to be trifled with. For most other court cases, there are words like "reasonable" and "customary" applies, with probate law it's what the will says, unless the will is asking to do something that is contrary to the laws of the state in which it is being probated in, so don't try a do it yourself approach.
Our household major assets are our house, two taxable brokerage accounts which are in my name, and my and my wife's retirement accounts. The house is held in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, so when one of us is gone the house belongs to the survivor. If we were both to die at the same time, it gets sold and each of our daughters gets half the proceeds. All the retirement accounts have beneficiaries, so on death the surviving spouse gets the other's account. The taxable accounts are in my name , and are set up with a transfer on death order. I have my wife as the primary beneficiary and my daughters as contingent beneficiaries. In our case, about the only thing left that our wills would cover are our cars and what little bit our personal property would sell for.
