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Estate Planning (What an Estate Plan Is Made Of)

The set of documents and arrangements that decide who manages your affairs if you cannot, who inherits what, and how, with the least cost, delay and tax.

Informational only - this is not legal advice. These definitions explain general legal vocabulary in plain English. They are not advice about your situation, reading them creates no attorney-client relationship, and the law differs from state to state and changes over time. For advice you can rely on, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of Estate Planning law firms.

What it means

An estate plan is not one document but a set of them, chosen to fit the person's family, assets and state. The core pieces are a will, which names an executor, says who inherits property that passes through probate and, for parents of minor children, nominates a guardian; a durable power of attorney for finances, which lets a chosen agent act if the person becomes incapacitated; a health care proxy and living will (together, an advance directive) for medical decisions; and, for many people, a revocable living trust, which holds assets during life and passes them at death without probate. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance and payable-on-death bank accounts, and the way real estate is titled, pass property outside the will entirely, which is why an out-of-date designation can defeat a carefully written will.

What a plan must solve differs by situation. A married couple with modest assets may need little more than wills, powers of attorney, directives and coordinated beneficiary designations. A blended family, a child with a disability who receives public benefits (which calls for a supplemental or special needs trust), a family business, real estate in more than one state (which otherwise means a separate probate in each), or an estate large enough to face federal or state estate tax each call for more. Federal estate tax reaches only estates above a high exemption that is adjusted each year, but several states tax estates or inheritances at much lower levels. Someone who dies with no will is governed by the state's intestacy statute, which may give property to people the person would not have chosen and gives the court, not the family, the choice of who administers the estate.

A plan has to be kept current. Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, a move to another state and a significant change in assets each call for review, and most states' laws automatically revoke gifts to a former spouse on divorce but not gifts to the former spouse's relatives. The documents must be signed with the formalities the state requires, usually witnesses and, for some documents, a notary; a growing number of states now accept electronic wills. Once death occurs, the plan is carried out through probate for assets in the will, by the trustee for trust assets, and by each institution for designated accounts; see also executor and small estate procedures.

Where this comes from

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health care decisions are state law. Model and uniform acts followed in many states: the Uniform Probate Code (wills, intestacy, probate administration, revocation on divorce at § 2-804, nonprobate transfers at Article VI), the Uniform Trust Code, the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act and the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (2019). Federal estate and gift tax: 26 U.S.C. §§ 2001-2210 and 2501-2524, with the basic exclusion amount in § 2010(c) as indexed. Special needs trusts: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A) and (C). Retirement account beneficiary rules: 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9) as amended by the SECURE Act (2019) and SECURE 2.0 (2022).

When people hire a lawyer for this

Most adults need at least a will, a durable power of attorney and a health care directive, and an estate planning lawyer can prepare a basic set for a flat fee; online forms are cheaper but are a common source of the ambiguities and execution defects that end in litigation. Hire a lawyer rather than a form when there is a blended family, a child with a disability, a business, out-of-state property, a possible estate or inheritance tax, or any family conflict you expect. Bring a list of assets and how each is titled, current beneficiary designations, and your existing documents. Review the plan after any major life event and at least every few years.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find Estate Planning law firms in your state

Choose your state to see Estate Planning law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z.

Alabama (Birmingham)
+1 other city
- Montgomery
Alaska (Anchorage)
Arizona (Mesa)
+6 other cities
Arkansas (Little Rock)
California (Long Beach)
+19 other cities
- Anaheim
- Chula Vista
- Fontana
- Fremont
- Irvine
- Los Angeles
- Oakland
- Riverside
- Sacramento
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- and 7 more with fewer listed firms
Colorado (Denver)
+2 other cities
- Aurora
- Colorado Springs
Connecticut (Bridgeport)
Delaware (Wilmington)
District of Columbia (Washington)
Florida (Orlando)
+5 other cities
Georgia (Atlanta)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Idaho (Boise)
Illinois (Chicago)
Indiana (Indianapolis)
+1 other city
- Fort Wayne
Iowa (Des Moines)
Kansas (Wichita)
Kentucky (Lexington)
+1 other city
- Louisville
Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
+2 other cities
- New Orleans
- Shreveport
Maine (Portland)
Maryland (Baltimore)
Massachusetts (Boston)
Michigan (Detroit)
Minnesota (Minneapolis)
+1 other city
- Saint Paul
Mississippi (Jackson)
Missouri (Kansas City)
+1 other city
- St. Louis
Montana (Billings)
Nebraska (Lincoln)
+1 other city
- Omaha
Nevada (Las Vegas)
+3 other cities
New Hampshire (Manchester)
New Jersey (Newark)
+1 other city
- Jersey City
New Mexico (Albuquerque)
New York (Buffalo)
+2 other cities
- New York City
- Rochester
North Carolina (Charlotte)
+5 other cities
North Dakota (Fargo)
Ohio (Cincinnati)
+3 other cities
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
+1 other city
- Tulsa
Oregon (Portland)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
+1 other city
- Pittsburgh
Rhode Island (Providence)
South Carolina (Columbia)
South Dakota (Sioux Falls)
Tennessee (Nashville)
+1 other city
- Memphis
Texas (Austin)
+12 other cities
Utah (Salt Lake City)
Vermont (Burlington)
Virginia (Chesapeake)
+3 other cities
Washington (Tacoma)
+2 other cities
- Seattle
- Spokane
West Virginia (Charleston)
Wisconsin (Madison)
+1 other city
- Milwaukee
Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

« All glossary terms

Part of the LawyerLand plain-English legal glossary. Definitions are written from primary sources - statutes and court rules - and each entry states the authority it rests on, or says plainly when the doctrine is state law with no national rule.

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