Over 18? Make a quick will, please. Today. Save your mum some grief. (And beat Murphy's Law.)

Director / lawyer from Kiwilaw

Guys (especially) - I am fed up with having grief-stricken mothers contact me because their sons died suddenly in tragic circumstances (car crash, suicide, etc) and they want to apply for letters of administration because there's no will.
Firstly, it's more complicated if there's no will.
Secondly, often Mum isn't the statutory heir - it may be the de facto partner that Mum never liked (and whom Mum blames for treating her son badly), or his ex-spouse who never got a dissolution order, or the baby grandchild, or his teenage daughter that he has never met. There may be an argument about whether there was a qualifying de facto relationship, or whether he was really the father of the teenager although he paid child support. No one needs that turmoil, when they are trying to cope with your loss.
Thirdly, it's dumb. You've heard of Murphy's Law? 'What can go wrong, will go wrong.' If you don't have a will, Murphy's Law means you're more likely to die prematurely. If you do have a will, you're less likely to need it, more likely to live to 93. (No, I haven't researched this statistically.)
So, please, do your Mum a favour, and make a will. Even if you don't make her the beneficiary, give her some certainty.
Do it now, do it tonight, write something simple on a piece of paper and sign it in front of 2 adult witnesses who aren't mentioned in the will. Show the witnesses' full names, occupations, and a phone number or email address for each of them.
'This is my will. I give everything I own to my parents, or the survivor of them if one dies before me. I appoint my friend Joe Bloggs as my executor.' Add the date. Include a statement next to or above the signatures, 'I signed this in front of these witnesses and they signed it in front of me and each other. We were all present at the same time.'
Preferably appoint someone as executor (the person who has to give effect to the will - it can be your mum, or dad, or a friend, or employer), otherwise someone will have to apply for letters of administration with will annexed.
If you have a partner or a child, change the wording to suit.
Then give the signed will to someone you trust, or put it somewhere safe and tell that person where to find it.
No, you don't need a lawyer. If you need something more complicated, use a lawyer to do a more conventional will, BUT do this in the meantime. Trust me, it's better than nothing.
(Note - the photo is a stock image, posed by model.)