A basic estate plan is four things: a will, a durable financial power of attorney, a healthcare proxy and advance directive, and beneficiary forms that agree with the will. Many families add a revocable living trust. Federal estate tax applies only above $15 million per person for deaths in 2026, so for most people the plan is about who decides and who receives, not tax. State estate tax is the exception: Oregon’s starts at $1 million. An estate attorney drafts the documents. A fee-only planner, at a median $2,000 for a one-time plan, works out what they should say and keeps your accounts in line with them.
What goes in the plan
| Document | What it does | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Will | Names your executor, a guardian for minor children, and who receives what’s in your name alone | State law decides who inherits, and a court picks the guardian |
| Durable financial power of attorney | Lets someone you choose pay bills and manage accounts if you can’t | Your family may have to ask a court for a conservatorship |
| Healthcare proxy and advance directive | Names who makes medical decisions and records your wishes | Doctors and family guess, and may disagree |
| Beneficiary and transfer-on-death forms | Send retirement accounts, insurance and some bank and brokerage accounts straight to the people named | An old form can override the will |
| Revocable living trust (optional) | Holds assets during your life and passes them without probate | Assets in your name alone go through probate |
The glossary covers each one in more depth: power of attorney, revocable living trust, beneficiary designation and probate. Our guide to estate attorneys and financial planners explains who does which part.
The rules that matter in 2026
No will means state law decides. If you die without a valid will, the intestacy law of your state sets who inherits. It won’t name the people you’d choose as guardians, and it won’t include a partner you never married or a stepchild you never adopted.
Children can’t manage an inheritance. A minor who inherits money outright usually needs a court-supervised guardian of the estate to manage it. California’s courts, for example, say a guardianship of the estate is needed when a child “has a lot of money, income, or property.” A trust for the children, or a custodian named for them, avoids that, and lets you choose the age they receive control.
The federal estate tax is out of reach for most. The IRS sets the basic exclusion at $15 million per person for deaths in 2026, and you can give up to $19,000 a year to any number of people without using any of it. A married couple can combine exclusions through portability, but only if the first spouse’s estate files Form 706 to elect it. The return is due 9 months after the death, and Rev. Proc. 2022-32 allows a late election up to the fifth anniversary for estates that didn’t otherwise need to file.
State taxes start much lower. Twelve states and the District of Columbia tax estates, and five states tax heirs on what they receive: Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
If you live in one of these states, or own property in one, a plan that ignores state tax can cost your heirs real money. A planner can tell you which side of the line you’re on today and in 20 years.
The order to do it in
- Take an inventory. Every account, policy and property, how each is titled, and who is named on it. This is the step most people skip, and it’s where the problems hide.
- Make the decisions. Who raises the children, who manages money if you can’t, who receives what, and at what age. Choose a backup for every role.
- Run the numbers. A planner checks whether state or federal tax applies, and which assets should go to whom. A traditional IRA left to a child in a high tax bracket is worth less to them than the same amount in a taxable account.
- Have an attorney draft and sign. Signing rules for wills, such as the number of witnesses, are set by each state. A will signed the wrong way may not count.
- Fund the trust and update the forms. A trust controls only what’s retitled into it. Beneficiary forms need to match the plan; FINRA notes that a transfer-on-death plan or other beneficiary document supersedes your will. Our beneficiary designation review walks through each account.
- Tell people where things are. Your executor and agent need to find the documents, and banks often want to see a power of attorney before they’ll accept it. Give copies to your custodians now, not during a crisis. The CFPB publishes free guides for agents and trustees.
- Review it. Every three to five years, and after any marriage, divorce, birth, death, move or large change in what you own.
Common mistakes
- A new will and old beneficiary forms. The forms usually win.
- A trust that was never funded. The house deed and the brokerage account are still in your own name, so they go through probate anyway.
- Naming young children directly on a life insurance policy or account, which can force a court guardianship.
- Adding an adult child to an account or deed to avoid probate. It exposes the asset to that child’s creditors and divorce, and it passes to that child alone, not shared with siblings.
- No backups. A plan that names one executor, one guardian and one beneficiary can fail if that person dies first or says no.
- Forgetting the healthcare documents. They’re the ones most often needed while you’re alive.
For families with a second marriage or a child with a disability, the rules get more specific. See our guides to blended family planning and special needs planning. If you’ve just married, start with financial planning when you get married.
Questions to ask a planner
- Will you map who receives each account today, before we change anything?
- Does my state’s estate or inheritance tax apply to us, now or as our savings grow?
- Which assets should go to which heir, after tax?
- Will you check that the trust is funded and the forms match once the attorney is done?
- Do you work with estate attorneys, and do you receive anything for referrals?
- How are you paid, in dollars a year?
When a fee-only advisor is worth it, and what it costs
If your plan is a simple will and your accounts are few, an attorney or a reputable online service may be all you need. A planner earns their fee when you have children, a business, property in more than one state, an estate near your state’s threshold, or a large share of your money in retirement accounts, where who receives what changes the tax.
| If you want | Option | Typical cost (US median) |
|---|---|---|
| A review of your forms, titles and existing documents | Hourly | $300 an hour |
| A full estate map and the decisions to bring to an attorney | One-time plan | $2,000 |
| Someone to keep it current as life changes | Ongoing planning fee | $4,500 a year |
These are prices fee-only firms publish on their own websites, from the Wellspent fee report. The attorney’s fee is separate; there’s no reliable national price list, so ask for a written flat-fee quote. See what a one-time plan costs.
Choose a fee-only planner. Estate planning conversations often turn to life insurance and annuities, and a fee-only planner earns nothing from either.
Where to look
In the public graph, start with the estate planning and family wealth transfer specialties, or the lists of family wealth transfer specialists and advisors for multi-generational families. If you’d rather pay a set price, see flat-fee advisors. The audience pages for multi-generational families, mid-life transitions and ultra-high-net-worth households show who serves each situation.