Most people know they need a will. Yet here’s what happens: life gets busy, months turn into years, and that crucial document stays on the perpetual “I’ll get to it later” list. Maybe you think you’re too young, or perhaps the whole thing feels overwhelming.
Here’s what makes this different from buying insurance or setting up a savings account. A will isn’t about you. It’s about the people you love and making sure they’re protected when you’re no longer there to do it yourself.
Think about what happens without one. Courts decide who raises your kids. Distant relatives you barely know might inherit your home. Your partner could face legal battles lasting months or even years. These aren’t scare tactics—they’re realities that play out in probate courts every single day. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to your family.
Will Planning Checklist and Guide
Getting your will done right doesn’t require a law degree or endless hours of complicated paperwork. What you need is a clear roadmap and the commitment to follow through.
1. Take Inventory of Everything You Own
Start by walking through your home with a notebook. Write down everything that matters—your house, your car, that vintage guitar collecting dust in the corner, your retirement accounts, and yes, even the savings bonds your grandmother gave you twenty years ago.
Don’t skip the small stuff. That collection of first-edition books might mean nothing to you, but it could be worth thousands. Your jewelry box, your tools, your art. Get it all down on paper. Include account numbers for your bank accounts, investment portfolios, and insurance policies. This isn’t just about value—it’s about creating a complete picture of what you’re leaving behind.
Digital assets matter too. Your online banking, your cryptocurrency wallets, your photo libraries stored in the cloud. These things have real value, both monetary and sentimental. Make a list of usernames and where you keep the passwords (more on this later). This inventory becomes the foundation for everything else you’ll do.
3. Choose Your Executor Wisely
Your executor is the person who’ll handle your estate when you’re gone. They’ll pay your final bills, file paperwork with the court, distribute your assets, and deal with any disputes that arise. This is a massive responsibility.
Pick someone organized. Someone who keeps their own life together and won’t crumble under pressure. Your best friend since college might be loyal and loving, but if they can barely manage their own finances, they’re not your person. You need someone who’ll show up, follow through, and handle conflict without falling apart.
Age matters here too. Choosing your 75-year-old parent might feel right emotionally, but will they have the energy and mental clarity to handle this job five or ten years from now? Think practically. Many people choose a responsible adult child, a younger sibling, or a trusted friend who’s detail-oriented and reliable. You can also name a backup executor in case your first choice can’t serve.
Have the conversation with them before you make it official. Springing this on someone through your will is unfair. They need to know what they’re agreeing to and feel comfortable saying yes.
2. List Your Beneficiaries and What They’ll Receive
This is where things get personal. Who gets what? Maybe you want your daughter to have your house. Your son gets the investment accounts. Your best friend receives that painting she’s always admired.
Be specific. Really specific. “I leave my jewelry to my daughters” sounds clear until your sons’ wives start questioning why they’re excluded. “I leave my diamond engagement ring to my daughter Sarah and my pearl necklace to my daughter Michelle” leaves no room for interpretation. The more precise you are, the fewer fights you’ll prevent.
Consider timing too. Maybe you want your 19-year-old to inherit money, but not all at once. You can set up a trust that releases funds at certain ages—some at 25, more at 30, the rest at 35. This protects young beneficiaries from making costly mistakes with sudden wealth. It also protects assets if a beneficiary is going through a divorce or has creditor problems.
4. Name Guardians for Your Minor Children
If you have kids under 18, this is the most important decision you’ll make. Who raises them if both you and your partner die? The court will decide if you don’t.
Think beyond who loves your kids most. Everyone loves them. You need to consider who shares your values, who has the emotional bandwidth to take on more children, who lives in a stable situation. Do they have space? Can they afford it? (You can leave money specifically for your children’s care.) Will your kids stay in the same school district, or will their entire lives get uprooted?
Talk to potential guardians honestly. This conversation feels morbid, but it’s necessary. They might need time to think about it. They might have concerns you need to address. Some families choose one person to be the personal guardian (who raises the kids day-to-day) and another to be the financial guardian (who manages the money you leave for the children’s care). This creates checks and balances.
Name alternates here too. Life changes. People move, get divorced, develop health problems. Your first choice might not be able to serve when the time comes.
5. Consider Setting Up Trusts for Complex Situations
Not everyone needs a trust, but they solve specific problems really well. If you have a blended family, a special needs child, significant assets, or beneficiaries who aren’t great with money, trusts give you control beyond the grave.
A special needs trust, for example, lets you leave money to a disabled child without disqualifying them from government benefits. A spendthrift trust protects an inheritance from a beneficiary’s creditors or poor spending habits. Trusts can also reduce estate taxes if your assets exceed certain thresholds.
The downside? Trusts cost more to set up and maintain. You’ll need an attorney who specializes in estate planning, and you’ll pay ongoing trustee fees. For most people with straightforward situations, a simple will works fine. But if your situation is complicated, the investment pays off in protection and peace of mind.
6. Make Your Healthcare Wishes Crystal Clear
Your will handles what happens to your stuff. But what about medical decisions if you’re alive but unable to communicate? This is where advance directives come in—living wills and healthcare powers of attorney.
A living will spells out your wishes for end-of-life care. Do you want to be kept on life support? Under what circumstances? What about feeding tubes? These decisions torture families when they’re left guessing. Put it in writing. Be clear. Your family will be grateful they don’t have to make these impossible choices without guidance.
A healthcare power of attorney (sometimes called a healthcare proxy) names someone to make medical decisions for you if you can’t. This person needs to know your values and be strong enough to advocate for your wishes, even when other family members disagree. Choose someone who’ll honor what you want, not what they want for you.
7. Assign Financial Power of Attorney
What if you’re incapacitated but not dead? Who pays your bills, manages your investments, handles your business affairs? Without a financial power of attorney, your family might need to go to court to get access to your accounts.
This person will have significant control over your finances, so choose carefully. They need to be trustworthy, competent with money, and willing to keep detailed records. You can make this power of attorney effective immediately or only when you become incapacitated (called a “springing” power of attorney).
Some people split this role—one person handles day-to-day finances while another manages investments. This creates accountability. Others keep it simple with one trusted person. There’s no single right answer, just what works for your family dynamics.
8. Document Your Digital Life and Access Information
You probably have dozens of online accounts. Email, social media, online banking, investment platforms, subscription services, photo storage, your blog, your business website. What happens to all of this when you die?
Create a digital asset inventory. List every account, the username, and where the password is stored. Don’t write passwords directly in your will—it becomes a public document. Instead, tell your executor where to find your password manager or where you keep that encrypted file.
Include instructions for what you want done with each account. Delete your social media profiles? Keep them up as memorials? Transfer ownership of your blog to someone who’ll keep it running? Download and save your photos? These details matter to your survivors.
Some states have laws about digital assets and estate planning. Your executor might not automatically have legal access to your accounts, even with your password. Check your state’s rules and consider using services specifically designed for digital legacy planning.
9. Review and Update Beneficiary Designations
Here’s something that trips people up constantly: beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies override your will. Let that sink in. You could write in your will that your current spouse gets everything, but if you never updated the beneficiary form on your 401(k) after your divorce, your ex-spouse gets that money.
Pull out every policy and account statement. Check who’s listed as the beneficiary. Update anything that’s changed since you first filled out those forms. Got married? Had kids? Got divorced? Someone died? Update your forms.
This takes an afternoon, maybe less. But failing to do it can create massive problems. Your intended heirs might get nothing while someone you haven’t spoken to in years gets a windfall. Courts generally can’t override beneficiary designations, even when they clearly don’t reflect your current wishes.
10. Store Your Will Safely and Tell People Where It Is
The best will in the world is useless if no one can find it. Don’t hide it somewhere “safe” where it’ll never be discovered. Don’t keep it in a safety deposit box that your family can’t access without a court order.
Keep the original in a fireproof home safe or with your attorney. Give copies to your executor, your spouse, and maybe one other trusted person. Tell multiple people where the original is stored. Leave a note in an obvious place (like with your important papers) that says “My will is located at [location].”
Some states allow you to file your will with the local probate court for safekeeping while you’re alive. This costs a small fee but guarantees it won’t be lost, destroyed, or hidden by someone who doesn’t like what it says.
11. Don’t Forget About Your Pets
Your pets can’t inherit money or property directly, but you can plan for their care. Name a caretaker in your will and leave money to cover their expenses. Be realistic about costs—that healthy young dog might live another 12 years.
Have the conversation with the person you’re naming. Do they want your pet? Are they able to provide the level of care your pet needs? Your cat might be fine anywhere, but your horse needs someone with land, money, and knowledge.
You can also set up a pet trust if you have significant concerns or valuable animals. This legally obligates someone to care for your pet according to your instructions, with money set aside specifically for this purpose.
12. Plan for Your Final Arrangements
Do you want to be buried or cremated? Where? What kind of service? These decisions are expensive and emotionally charged. Making them in advance lifts a huge burden from your grieving family.
Write down your preferences and include them with your will (though not in the will itself—wills often aren’t read until after the funeral). Pre-plan and pre-pay for your funeral if you want. This locks in current prices and removes the financial and decision-making stress from your family during their worst moments.
Include information about any plots you own, any prepaid arrangements you’ve made, and whether you want to be an organ donor. If you have specific requests for your service—certain music, particular readings, who should speak—write those down too.
13. Sign and Witness Your Will Properly
A will that’s not properly executed isn’t valid. Most states require your signature plus two witnesses who aren’t beneficiaries in your will. Some states require notarization. Get this wrong and your will might be thrown out.
Don’t ask your kids or anyone else who inherits under the will to witness it. Their inheritance could be invalidated. Use neutral parties—neighbors, co-workers, your attorney’s staff.
Consider making your will “self-proving” by having it notarized along with the witnesses’ signatures. This lets the probate court accept it without tracking down your witnesses years later to testify that they saw you sign it. It’s a small extra step that saves hassle down the road.
14. Review Your Will Every Few Years
Life changes. Your will should too. Plan to review it every three to five years, or whenever something major happens—marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, significant changes in your assets, moving to a new state.
State laws differ. A will that’s valid in California might have issues in Florida. If you move, have an attorney in your new state review your will to make sure it still works.
Set a calendar reminder. Otherwise, years will pass and your will becomes increasingly outdated. The 30 minutes it takes to review beats the months of legal headaches an outdated will can cause.
15. Consider Getting Professional Help
Yes, you can use online will templates or DIY software. For simple situations—you’re young, you don’t have much, you want everything to go to your spouse or kids—these work fine. They’re affordable and better than nothing.
But if your situation is complicated, see an attorney. Blended families, significant assets, business ownership, disabled beneficiaries, and estranged family members—these situations need professional guidance. An attorney costs money upfront but saves your family far more in legal fees and family conflict later.
Interview a few estate planning attorneys. Ask about their experience, their fees, and their approach. You want someone who listens to your concerns and explains options in plain English, not someone who talks down to you or pushes products you don’t need.
Wrapping Up
Getting your will done is one of those tasks that feels bigger than it actually is. Yes, thinking about your death is uncomfortable. But the actual process—making lists, having conversations, signing papers—is manageable. You can knock out the basics in a few weekends.
Your family will thank you. Not out loud, because you won’t be there to hear it. But in the quiet moments when they’re handling your affairs without chaos, without fighting, without wondering what you wanted—that’s when your planning pays off. That’s your final gift to the people you love.
Stop putting it off. Start today. Even if you just make that asset list or have that conversation about guardians, you’re further along than you were yesterday. One step at a time, and before you know it, you’ll have this crucial piece of your life handled.