I talk to many people who know they should do some estate planning and still have not started.

Usually, it is not because they do not care. It is because “estate plan” sounds like a large, complicated project, and large projects are easy to postpone when life is already busy. Maybe you know you should have a living trust but are not ready to make every decision.

Maybe you have been putting off estate planning because you think you need to organize every account, know exactly what you own, and have every future question answered before you call an attorney.

You do not. If you are not ready for a complete trust-based estate plan, you can still begin making important decisions about your finances, health care, and family. Three foundational documents are a good place to understand what that first layer of planning can accomplish.

You Do Not Have to Do Everything at Once

A comprehensive estate plan may eventually include a revocable living trust, a pour-over will, powers of attorney, health-care documents, deeds, beneficiary planning, business succession provisions, or other strategies depending on your circumstances.

But you do not need to understand all of those tools before you begin. Estate planning can start with a much simpler question:

If something happened to me tomorrow, what decisions would I wish I had already made? For many adults, three documents address some of the most immediate concerns.

1. A Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney lets you authorize someone you trust to handle specified financial and legal matters on your behalf.

Depending on how the document is written, your agent may be able to handle matters such as:

• Paying bills
• Managing certain bank or financial accounts
• Dealing with insurance companies
• Handling property matters
• Communicating with financial institutions
• Managing other financial responsibilities you have authorized

California Courts explains that a power of attorney can allow you to choose someone to handle some or all of your financial, real estate, tax, or other matters. You determine the authority the person receives.

Why does that matter?

Because being your spouse, adult child, sibling, or other close relative does not automatically give someone unlimited authority over accounts or property held in your name. If you become unable to manage those matters yourself and no one has appropriate authority, your family may encounter obstacles at exactly the time they are already dealing with a crisis.

2. An Advance Health Care Directive

An advance health care directive addresses a different question:

Who should make health-care decisions if I cannot make or communicate them myself?

The document allows you to appoint a health-care agent and express your wishes about medical treatment.

Depending on your preferences, those instructions may address matters such as:

• Medical treatment
• Pain relief
• End-of-life care
• The types of treatment you do or do not want
• Who should communicate with your medical providers

California Courts explains that an advance health care directive allows you to identify the care you would want if you could not speak for yourself and to appoint an agent to communicate your wishes.

A related HIPAA authorization can also help the people you have chosen access medical information when appropriate. This document is not just for older adults. A serious accident, unexpected illness, or complication from surgery can affect someone at almost any age.

3. A Will

A will addresses what should happen after your death. It allows you to state how property governed by the will should be distributed and to nominate an executor to administer your estate.

For parents of minor children, a will has another particularly important function. It allows you to nominate the person or people you would want considered as guardian if no parent were available to care for your child.

California’s statutory will form specifically allows a parent to name first, second, and third choices for guardian of a minor child. The court ultimately determines who will be appointed as guardian, but your written nomination gives the court important guidance about the person you wanted considered.

A will can also provide instructions about property. But there is an important distinction:

A will does not automatically avoid probate. Depending on your assets, their value, how they are titled, and other circumstances, probate may still be necessary.

What These Three Documents Do Not Do

Starting with these documents can provide meaningful protection, but they do not accomplish everything a comprehensive estate plan can do.

For example, these three documents alone may not:

• Keep real estate out of probate
• Create long-term inheritance protection for beneficiaries
• Establish detailed trust management for minor children
• Address specialized planning for a beneficiary with disabilities
• Coordinate a business succession plan
• Provide the same incapacity-management structure for assets that a properly funded living trust can provide
• Solve tax or complex asset-planning issues

That is not a reason to do nothing. It is simply a reason to understand the difference between starting an estate plan and completing a more comprehensive one.

When Might a Living Trust Become the Next Step?

A living trust may become particularly important when you own real estate, want to reduce the likelihood of probate for properly funded trust assets, need ongoing management for beneficiaries, or want a more detailed plan for how assets will be handled during incapacity and after death.

California Courts explains that a living trust can be part of an estate plan and can allow property placed in the trust to pass according to the trust terms without going through probate court. Self-Help Center

The important phrase is property placed in the trust.

Creating the trust document is only part of the process. Assets that are intended to be governed by the trust generally need to be properly coordinated with it.

We will explore that distinction more fully in our upcoming article about wills and living trusts.

You Can Build Your Plan in Stages

Estate planning does not have to be an all-or-nothing project. You might begin by putting incapacity documents in place. Then you might address your will. Later, you may decide that a living trust makes sense based on your home, family, business, or other assets.

Or you may sit down with an estate-planning attorney and decide that completing the entire plan at once is more practical for your situation. The important thing is understanding what each level of planning accomplishes so that your decision to wait is an informed one.

Starting Is Better Than Waiting for the Perfect Time

You do not have to know exactly what your finances will look like ten years from now.

You do not have to predict every change in your family.

You do not need every answer before you begin.

You simply need to identify the decisions that matter now and put appropriate instructions in place.

Your plan can change as your life changes.

Start Where You Are

A “not yet” on a full trust-based estate plan does not have to mean doing nothing. At LSG Legal, our education-first process is designed to help you understand what each planning tool does, identify which decisions matter most right now, and build from there.

Ready to take the first step? Schedule a Peace of Mind Planning Session with LSG Legal.