A Simple Estate Planning Starter List

Estate planning sounds like something for people with estates. In practice it is mostly about making sure the people you care about are not left guessing during the worst week of their lives.

Educational only — estate law is jurisdiction-specific; use a qualified professional for anything binding.

The four documents

A will. Names who receives what, and — if you have children — who cares for them. Dying without one means the state's default rules apply, and they rarely match what anyone wanted.

A power of attorney for finances. Authorises someone to act on money matters if you cannot. Without it, families often need a court process at the exact moment they have least capacity for one.

A healthcare directive. Records your wishes about treatment, and names someone to speak for you. This is the document that most spares people from having to guess.

Up-to-date beneficiary designations. On pensions, life insurance, and investment accounts. These usually pass outside the will entirely, so a stale designation quietly overrides everything else you have written.

The list that makes all of it usable

Documents are only helpful if they can be found. Keep one page — on paper, somewhere known — that records:

• Where the documents are, and who holds copies
• Accounts, providers, and rough purposes
• Insurance policies and policy numbers
• Recurring obligations and subscriptions
• Who to contact: solicitor, accountant, employer

Password managers can hold the digital half, with emergency access configured.

The conversation

Tell the people you have named that you have named them, and roughly what you would want. A twenty-minute conversation now prevents most of the conflict that otherwise arrives later, between people who are already grieving.

Start with whichever of the four you do not have. Any one of them is a meaningful improvement on none.