Decide who receives your assets
What is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the process of arranging how your assets, finances, and personal affairs will be handled during incapacity and after death. It typically involves a mix of legal documents rather than a single form, each covering a different part of your life and property.
Wills vs. Trusts: What's the Difference
A will directs how your assets are distributed and names guardians for minor children, while a trust can manage and distribute assets during your lifetime and after, often without going through probate.
Key Documents Every Estate Plan Needs
Most estate plans include a last will, a durable power of attorney, and a health care directive at minimum, with a living trust added for larger or more complex estates.
Who Should Have an Estate Plan
Estate planning isn't just for the wealthy. Anyone with dependents, property, savings, or strong preferences about their medical care benefits from having a plan in place.
Why You Need an Estate Plan
Without a plan, state law decides who inherits your property, who raises your children, and who makes medical decisions on your behalf — decisions that may not reflect what you would have wanted.
Protecting Your Family's Future
A plan ensures your spouse, children, and other dependents are provided for in the way you intend, instead of leaving those decisions to a court.
Avoiding Probate Delays and Costs
Assets that pass through a will alone often go through probate, which can take months and reduce what your beneficiaries ultimately receive. Trusts and beneficiary designations can help assets transfer faster.
Making Sure Your Wishes Are Followed
A health care directive and power of attorney let you choose, in advance, who speaks for you and how, if you're ever unable to make decisions yourself.
How to Make an Estate Plan
Building an estate plan is usually a short, guided process: take stock of your assets, decide who should receive what, choose the people you trust to carry out your wishes, then complete and sign the documents that make it official.
Steps to Create Your Estate Plan
List your assets and beneficiaries, choose an executor and guardians if needed, select the documents that fit your situation, then complete and sign them according to your state's requirements.
Choosing the Right Documents for Your Situation
A simple will may be enough for a modest estate, while blended families, business owners, or larger estates often benefit from adding a trust or a durable power of attorney.
Finalizing and Reviewing Your Estate Plan
An estate plan isn't a one-time task. Review it after major life events — marriage, divorce, a new child, a move to another state, or a significant change in assets — to make sure it still reflects your wishes.
When to Update Your Estate Plan
Most people should revisit their estate plan every few years, and sooner after a marriage, divorce, birth, death in the family, or a move to a state with different inheritance laws.