By Noël Durman
Editor’s note: This article is intended to provide general information and resources to help you learn more about estate planning. Goodwin Living does not provide legal, financial or tax advice. Because everyone’s circumstances are different, consider consulting a qualified professional about questions specific to you.
If you have an estate plan, when did you last look at it? And if you don’t have one, what’s stopping you?
Neither of these questions is meant to make anyone squirm. Many of us avoid these types of decisions until a deadline appears, a crisis happens or someone else has to step in. Trust & Will’s 2026 Estate Planning Report showed that 56% of American adults have no estate planning documents in place.
In recognition of National Estate Planning Awareness Week, observed annually during the third full week in October, we thought we’d do our part by contributing to efforts to help people understand what estate planning is and why it’s important. We hope that by sharing some information we empower you to start your own planning.
What Is an Estate Plan?
First, it’s important to clarify that an estate plan and a will aren’t the same thing. People often use these terms interchangeably, which causes real confusion.
A will is one legal document that lays out how your assets should be distributed after you die, and it takes effect only after your death.
An estate plan is more than just a will. It provides the set of documentation needed to determine how you want your assets and medical decisions handled if you should pass away or become incapacitated. Estate plans can involve several documents such as a will, powers of attorney, an advance directive, beneficiary designations and, for some people, a trust. Not everyone needs to have every one of these items in place.
Estate planning can seem complicated and a little grim, which can keep people from starting. Like a lot of projects, it gets easier when you break it into pieces. So let’s start with basics: an inventory of your assets and critical information.
Start With What You Have: Doing an Asset Inventory
The first step of any good estate plan starts with taking account of your assets—financial, physical and even digital. There are many estate planning checklists available online that you can access and use at no cost.
If filling out the checklist is too overwhelming, you can start by making a simple bulleted list of your assets. You can then work through this list to collect any pertinent information, including account numbers, contact information, the location of documents, etc. This list will also help to give you a sense of what you’re planning for; you can do some research on whether you might need to consult certain advisors to help you document your wishes for these assets accurately and legally.
Such a list could mention:
- Home and other real estate
- Bank and investment accounts
- Retirement accounts
- Life insurance
- Vehicles
- Debts (i.e. loans, credit cards, utility balances, taxes owed, etc.)
- Valuable possessions (i.e. jewelry, books, etc.)
- Existing wills, trusts or other legal documents
- Beneficiary designations
You might also note on your list anything that carries meaning beyond its monetary value, such as family heirlooms or sentimental items that you might want to ensure pass on to specific people.
Think About Who Can Speak or Act for You: Naming Your Power of Attorney
Next, it would be helpful to think about who you’d want to speak for you or carry out your wishes. Ask yourself: who would you trust to make financial decisions on your behalf? Who would you want involved in your health care decisions? And, perhaps most importantly, do those people know what you would want?
A durable power of attorney lets someone manage your financial affairs if you can’t. A medical power of attorney, sometimes called a healthcare proxy, names someone who can make medical decisions for you if you become unable to communicate your own wishes. An advance directive documents your wishes about the care you do and don’t want, especially regarding life-sustaining treatments such as resuscitation, intubation, etc.
These are the documents that matter while you’re still living, and they’re the ones families most often wish had been completed. If you haven’t already, read our earlier post on advance care planning and use it as a companion step to reviewing your estate plan. This site shares links to forms that Virginia residents can use to document their advance directives. If you live in another state, be sure to research the forms your state requires to document your advance directives.
Decide How You Want Your Assets Distributed: Creating a Will or Trust
A will is a legally binding record of your final wishes. In it, you direct how you want your assets to be distributed after you pass away.
A will does not have to answer every estate planning question at once, though it should answer a few essential ones clearly: who is in charge, who receives what, and how your instructions should be carried out.
Most wills share the same basic structure, though will requirements vary by state. In Virginia, yours will generally include:
- A title and declaration with your full legal name, your city, county and state, confirming you’re of sound mind
- The naming of your executor, and ideally an alternate (this is the person who collects your assets, pays outstanding bills and distributes your estate according to your instructions)
- Specific bequests, meaning the particular items or amounts going to particular people
- The nominating of a guardian for minor children or other dependents
- Legacy gifts to causes/organizations you care about
- A residuary clause directing how to divide everything not named in a specific gift
- Language giving your personal representative the legal power to sell property, pay taxes and handle claims
- Your signature, properly witnessed
You can also name someone you trust to care for pets, though pets are handled differently under the law than people. If you’ve set aside money to cover your own end-of-life expenses, make sure someone knows where it is and how it can be accessed. Depending on how the account is titled, payable-on-death designations or other instructions may matter as much as what your will says.
The Virginia State Bar’s “Wills in Virginia” resource shows how these pieces come together and explains the basic legal requirements for making a will in Virginia.
It’s important to note that a will doesn’t automatically avoid probate, the legal process of distributing a deceased person’s assets to their new owners. Depending on what you own and how those assets are titled, some property may still pass through court. However, having a will in place makes that process faster and clearer because the court has your instructions to follow instead of falling back on state law. Without a will, the state decides how your assets are distributed based on your relationship to your surviving heirs. That takes longer and costs more than most families expect, and it happens at a time when loved ones are grieving.
A trust works differently than a will. Assets held in a trust bypass probate entirely, and a trust gives you more precise control over how and when those assets are distributed. A trustee you appoint manages it, and unlike a will, it takes effect while you’re still alive.
Trusts are more common among people with complex or substantial assets, though they can be useful at many income levels. Whether one makes sense for you is a question for an attorney.
Do You Need an Attorney to Make a Will?
Not legally, no. You can make a valid will without an attorney, and do-it-yourself options are affordable and convenient. For a genuinely simple situation, meaning modest assets, one or two beneficiaries and no complications, that route can work. The National Council on Aging offers a clear guide to making a will without a lawyer if you want to see what’s available.
It’s important to note though that wills and trusts are governed by state law, and a document that doesn’t meet state requirements can be invalidated. Then the outcome you were trying to prevent happens anyway, and you’re not there to fix it.
It’s generally recommended to work with an attorney if any of these apply:
- Your estate includes substantial assets
- You have multiple beneficiaries receiving different allocations
- You’re concerned about potential disputes among heirs
- You have a blended family
- You need special provisions for a particular beneficiary
- You want to be certain your executor has the proper legal powers
There’s one more reason that doesn’t fit neatly on a list: peace of mind. Knowing the document is right, that it will hold up and that your family won’t run into a problem at the worst possible moment is worth the cost for many people.
If You Already Have a Plan, Review It
If you’ve already completed your estate planning, congratulations! You’re miles ahead of many of your peers. Now’s the time to consider, when did you last review it?
- Is your executor still the right person, and does that person know they were named? People are often surprised to learn they’ve been handed this responsibility.
- Do the documents still describe your life? Accounts close, families grow and shift, and a plan written 15 years ago may be describing a household that no longer exists.
- Make sure to check your beneficiary designations while you’re at it. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by designation rather than by will, so outdated forms override whatever your will says. This is one of the most common gaps in otherwise careful estate plans.
- One more question that catches families off guard more often than it should:does anyone know where the original is? Remind your loved ones where they can find all of the documents they’ll need to follow your wishes.
If everything still says what you want it to say, file it away and feel good about it. If it doesn’t, you know what to bring to your attorney.
You Don’t Have to Finish Today. Just Start.
Your estate plan makes sure your wishes are respected, but it isn’t only for you. It’s for whoever sits down to sort out your affairs, while they’re also grieving you. Every gap becomes a decision they have to make without you, usually while wondering and worrying whether they’re getting it right.
To paraphrase writer Brené Brown, clarity is kindness. Making your wishes clear for your loved ones can take as little as an afternoon. Choose one next step to start your planning: pull out the will you already have, make a list of what needs updating or schedule the conversation you’ve been putting off. Your loved ones will thank you for it!
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Noël Durman is Director of Hospice Giving at the Goodwin Living Foundation, where she works to connect donors with the meaningful care Goodwin Hospice provides every day. She brings more than 20 years of nonprofit fundraising experience spanning international conservation, conflict resolution and services for older adults.
