Estate planning is not something only very old or very wealthy people need to do. Anyone who doesn’t want to leave a mess for their loved ones after they’ve died or if they are too sick to be able to make decisions, needs an estate plan. A recent article from Military.com, “Wills and More: These Are the Legal Documents Every Military Household Needs,” isn’t just for military families. Estate planning is for everyone, and one last important point: estate planning documents require upkeep to be effective. According to Beck, Lenox & Stolzer Estate Planning and Elder Law, LLC, here are basic estate planning documents every family needs.
The foundations of an estate plan include a will, beneficiary designation, and powers of attorney.
A will details who you want to receive your property when you’ve died and names an executor in charge of your estate. If there is no will, the laws of your state come into play. You may not like who is chosen to manage and distribute your estate, but it will be too late for you or your family.
Beneficiary designations apply to bank, investment, and retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and any asset permitting a beneficiary to be named. If your will has one instruction but the beneficiary designation says another, the beneficiary designation wins. This is just one example of why updating your estate planning documents is important. You may have opened an account decades ago and named a person who is no longer in your life or living.
Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives you the authority to make legal and financial decisions if you are incapacitated. A related document, Power of Healthcare Attorney, permits someone else to make healthcare decisions. Think of the two POAs as a mini-succession plan, giving authority over essential parts of your life to someone else if you become incapacitated.
If these documents aren’t in place, family members will need to go to court to obtain guardianship or conservatorship to take over routine matters like paying bills and being able to talk with doctors and make medical decisions. This is an expensive, time-consuming, and stressful process, easily avoided by having these documents prepared by an estate planning attorney.
Here’s an example of why updating documents is so important. Let’s say your mother receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. She’s still functioning, but the disease is progressing. Once someone is incapacitated, they are not allowed to sign legal documents. If you fail to update her POAs and other estate planning documents on a timely basis, the documents can be challenged and may be deemed invalid.
Events requiring estate planning document updates include happy things like marriage, welcoming a child or grandchild into the family, or coming into a large inheritance. Unpleasant events require updates as well: divorce, death, a serious disease, or financial losses.
Remember, estate planning is about protecting your family and your property. You’ve protected yourself and your loved ones by making a will, keeping beneficiary designations updated, and having POAs and related documents for incapacity. Your family will be spared the stress and cost of cleaning up a mess, which is probably not the legacy you want to leave. Consult with an experienced estate planning attorney and get started on creating the estate planning documents every family needs.
Reference: Military.com (April 21, 2025) “Wills and More: These Are the Legal Documents Every Military Household Needs”
