Estate planning and drafting a will can be complicated. There is a lot to consider, and many times probate litigation is necessary when people decide to contest a will. Sometimes family members wonder whether a person was competent when a will was signed, or they may have a hard time interpreting a will.

To get that far, obviously, someone must have a will in the first place. Some might find this surprising, but about 55 percent of Americans don't even have a will at all. One of those people was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Forbes posted an interesting estate planning article that details legal issues regarding part of King's estate. Over 43 years after his death, his family is in litigation because his secretary, who is now 86, won't give up items she says he left to her.

The woman has notes and documents, including a letter from Rosa Parks, which she says are rightly hers. Dr. King's family is contesting that, claiming the documents are part of his estate and belong to the family.

If King had drafted a will that detailed what he wanted to leave his secretary, this legal dispute wouldn't even be taking place. The Forbes article doesn't speculate why he didn't, but the author does note that people who don't set up a will often fall into two categories.

One is the people who just don't get around to it. The second is people who have the best intentions of estate planning but complicate the process by second guessing themselves and becoming paralyzed. An experienced estate planning attorney can assist such people who feel overwhelmed.

Source: Forbes, "A common sense approach to estate planning," Nancy Anderson, Jan. 19, 2012