
Individuals and Families with Minor Children
Estate Documents for a Complete Plan
Your will or trust is just one document in a comprehensive estate plan. Drafting a Power of Attorney and a Living Will (Advance Healthcare Directive) to allow others to act on your behalf in case you are incapacitated or otherwise need assistance is also a good idea. Our online partner platform gives you the option to create both documents at no cost to you. Your state may have restrictions on who can serve as an agent, so we recommend reviewing regulations on your state’s website to ensure your agent would be eligible to serve if needed. Your state’s website may also have blank templates of these documents available.
POA
A Power of Attorney (POA) designates someone to act on your behalf for personal and/or financial matters. This designee is called your agent or attorney-in-fact. You can give your agent general powers to act on your behalf in any matter, or you may limit their powers. There are two primary types of POA documents available: a durable POA goes into effect immediately upon signing, enabling your designated agent to act on your behalf in any time of need, and would also continue throughout your incapacity; a springing POA gives your agent power in the future, only upon the occurrence of a specific event you define, such as a physician certifying your incapacity in writing.
Living Will/Advance Healthcare Directive
A Living Will documents your wishes regarding medical decisions in case you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to make your own medical decisions. This is often combined with an Advance Healthcare Directive, which designates someone to act on your behalf for such healthcare decisions. By drafting these documents, you can ensure your emergency or end-of-life medical care wishes are met while also providing guidance for your agents and loved ones so they can take comfort in knowing they are acting according to your wishes.
Non-Legal Supplemental Documents
When storing your estate documents, it is helpful for your executor to have a list of all your accounts.
An Account List/Beneficiary Plan document can organize your account information in one place so your executor knows whom to contact to facilitate the transfer of your accounts to their beneficiaries (or to the estate if no living beneficiaries are named).
A similar helpful list you can include is a Digital Asset Inventory. This would include logins and passwords for your social media, financial institutions, online vendors, and even your computer itself. You can also include instructions for your digital executor to deactivate memberships and social accounts or distribute things like your digital photos to your loved ones.
In addition, a Letter of Instructions or Personal Property Memorandum can provide instructions for distributing tangible personal property directly to friends and family. Since this is a supplemental document drafted by you, you could make the letter very personal and even explain why you want certain items to be passed to each person.
Finally, if your will or trust does not have a section for a personal statement, you could consider including one as a separate letter. Your Personal Statement is also a great place to include your personal testimony or other statement of faith, ensuring that your love for Jesus is passed down in your legacy.
Prayer and Action Items
☐ Decide if you would like to create or update your POA and Living Will/Advance Healthcare Directive – and pray through who you would select as your agents for each.
☐ Consider one or more of the non-legal supplemental documents and start gathering the pertinent information in one central location. (We highly recommend creating an Account List/Beneficiary Plan and a Digital Asset Inventory.)
To download the Prayer and Action Items PDF, click here.
Next Steps
☐ Complete all prayer and action items in this section. (Click here for a PDF of this checklist, including all prayer and action items above.)
☐ Determine if you would like to draft your estate documents using our online partner platform.
If you prefer to work with an estate planning attorney and would like a referral to someone in your area, please contact our Gift & Estate Design team
☐ Optional: Set yourself up for success with our online partner platform by utilizing our custom guides for each document you are drafting
Questions?
For questions about using our online partner platform, please visit our Will Planning Partner Platform FAQs page.
For any estate planning-related questions, please email or call 866-802-1490, and one of our team members will be happy to assist you.
Next Step: Estate Documents for a Complete Plan
Click the button to learn about the other documents in a comprehensive estate plan.
