Most Texans know they should have a will; however, surveys consistently find that most American adults do not have one, and parents of young children are even less likely to. The reasons are familiar: planning doesn’t feel urgent, it’s uncomfortable to think about, or people assume they do not own enough to need a plan.
This guide answers the questions prospective clients ask me most often: what estate planning is, who needs it, what documents a Texas plan includes, what happens without one, and how to keep a plan up to date.
What Is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the process of making legal arrangements to protect your family, plan for your own care if you become incapacitated, and manage or transfer your property when you die. It covers decisions during your life as much as after it.
What Is an “Estate”?
Your estate is everything you own: your home and other real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, vehicles, and personal belongings. Its value is the fair market value of those assets minus your debts. See how do I figure out the value of my estate?
Who Needs an Estate Plan?
Every adult, regardless of the size of the estate. Without a plan, you give up the chance to decide:
- Who receives your property when you die
- Who raises your minor children if you and the other parent cannot
- Who manages what you leave your children, and when they receive it
- Who handles your finances and makes medical decisions if you are incapacitated
- Whether you want life-sustaining treatment if you have a terminal or irreversible condition
Planning matters even more for non-traditional families. Texas intestacy law makes no provision for unmarried partners, stepchildren, or close friends. If you want to provide for someone who is not related to you by blood or marriage, a plan is the only way to do it.
What Happens If I Do Not Have a Plan?
Texas makes one for you, and it is not tailored to your family.
- Your property passes by statute. The Texas intestacy statutes decide who inherits, and the result often surprises families, especially second marriages.
- A judge chooses your children’s guardian. The judge does not know you or your children. If both sides of the family want custody, the children can end up in the middle of a court fight.
- A court manages your children’s inheritance. In Texas, minors cannot manage property. If you leave a child more than a modest amount outright, a court-supervised guardianship of the estate may be required, and the child receives everything at 18.
- Your family may need a guardianship if you become incapacitated. Without powers of attorney, a spouse or adult child may have to go to court before paying your bills or speaking with your doctors.
What Documents Does a Texas Estate Plan Include?
A will is important, but it only takes effect after death. Most Texas adults need five basic documents:
- A will, naming your beneficiaries, an independent executor, and guardians for minor children
- A statutory durable power of attorney for financial matters
- A medical power of attorney naming someone to make health care decisions
- A directive to physicians (living will) stating your wishes about life-sustaining treatment
- A HIPAA authorization so the people you choose can get your medical information
Depending on your situation, a plan may also include a revocable living trust, trusts for children, a separate appointment of guardian for children, a declaration of guardian for yourself, and coordinated beneficiary designations. Read more in the five basic estate planning documents every adult in Texas needs.
Is a Simple Will Enough?
Sometimes. A simple will is appropriate in many situations and a poor fit in others.
A prospective client once called me after reading a self-help book. She and her husband had beneficiary designations on their retirement plans and transfer on death deeds on their real estate. “All we need now is a simple will,” she said. When I asked about her family, she told me they had an 18-year-old and a minor child, three homes, a business with more than a million dollars in annual revenue and significant inventory, and large retirement accounts.
Her goal was financial security for her children. When I asked whether her teenagers could manage millions of dollars on their own, she said no. A simple will leaving everything outright would have defeated her goal. A trust let the couple choose who would manage the money, decide when the children would receive it, and protect it from creditors, predators, and failed marriages. See protecting your children’s inheritance with a trust.
Why Should Parents of Young Children Have a Will?
You know your children better than anyone. Without a will, you relinquish control of who would raise them, who would manage what you leave them, and when they should receive control of their inheritance.
For parents, a complete plan usually includes:
- A guardian nomination for the children, with alternates (see how to choose a guardian for your children)
- A trust for the children’s inheritance instead of an outright gift
- Enough life insurance to support the children, with beneficiary designations that coordinate with the estate plan
Documents only help if the right person can get to them. After I named a guardian for my own children, I gave her a copy of my appointment of guardian and told her where the original was kept. She lived in another city, and in an emergency she would need to act before she could reach my safe.
How Often Should I Review My Plan?
There is no fixed schedule, but a plan should be reviewed after marriage or divorce, a birth or adoption, a death in the family, a significant change in assets, a move to another state, or changes in the law. Even without a major event, a review every few years is wise.
When you review, ask:
- Your will: Does it still reflect your wishes? Are your executor and trustees still the right people? Should a beneficiary’s share go into a trust instead of outright?
- Your beneficiary designations: Do life insurance and retirement accounts match your will? If your will leaves property in trust for your children, is the trust named as beneficiary?
- Your guardian nomination: Is that person still willing and able? One couple I worked with changed their choice after spending a summer traveling with the relative they had named.
- Your powers of attorney: Do you still trust your agents? A durable power of attorney gives broad authority. I have received calls from families whose agent was later accused of misusing the principal’s money.
See updating, revoking, or replacing a will in Texas.
Will My Estate Owe Estate or Inheritance Tax?
Most will not. The federal estate tax only applies to estates above the exemption, which is $15 million per person in 2026 and is indexed for inflation. Married couples can effectively combine their exemptions. Texas has no state estate or inheritance tax. See estate and gift tax changes for 2026 and does Texas have an inheritance tax?
What Is Probate?
Probate is the court process of proving a will and settling a deceased person’s estate: collecting assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains. In Texas, a well-drafted will that names an independent executor usually keeps probate relatively simple. Some families also use trusts or transfer on death deeds to avoid it. See how to avoid probate in Texas.
Can I Use Online Software to Make My Plan?
You can, but Texas has strict requirements for wills, and forms cannot evaluate your family, your assets, or how your documents interact. A mistake in signing can invalidate a will entirely. See the risks of DIY estate planning.
Why You Should Not Wait
Many parents only think about their wills right before a flight. Statistically, the drive to work is far more dangerous. The time to plan is while you are healthy and have the full range of options.
I was once told about a father I’ll call Tom, who began coughing up blood while his family was away on spring break. His doctor first told him not to worry. Weeks later, a specialist diagnosed stage 4 cancer. Tom had no estate planning documents. He had a will drafted, but on the day he was to sign it, he went into cardiac arrest. He died two days later without signing it.
Chuck Jaffe wrote about his brother, Rob, who was diagnosed with primary amyloidosis, a rare blood disease, and died 46 days later. Two years earlier, Rob had met with a lawyer and signed his estate plan. Rob asked Chuck to share the story: because his affairs were already in order, he could spend those last weeks with the people and things that mattered most, instead of worrying about whether he would live long enough to sign documents.
I have seen the same contrast in my own practice. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked with a client whose plan was out of date when his doctors told him he had about a week to live. In those few days he had to sign new documents (finding a notary who would be allowed into the hospital was a challenge), check the beneficiary designations on his accounts, and mail papers to the county clerk because the courthouse was closed. His wife helped, and everything was finished before he died a week later, but he spent much of his last week on legal and financial details. Another client had completed her plan a year before she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her only questions were whether to give her health care directives to her agent and her doctors (yes) and whether moving to another Texas county affected her will (it does not). She could focus on her treatment and her family.
The process also has to happen while you have capacity; once a serious illness affects your judgment, signing a valid will becomes harder and more open to challenge. See requirements of a valid will in Texas.
Get Your Records in Order
Documents are only useful if your family can find them. One of the kindest things you can do is organize your records so the people handling your affairs are not searching through drawers during a crisis. Keep a binder or secure file with:
- The location of your original will, powers of attorney, and health care documents, and who has access to any safe deposit box
- A list of real estate, bank and investment accounts, retirement plans, and vehicles, with where the titles and statements are kept
- Debts and recurring bills, such as the mortgage, car loans, and credit cards, plus recent tax returns
- Life, health, and long-term care insurance policies, with agent contact information
- A secure list of online accounts and how to access them (see planning for intangible treasures)
- Your attorney, accountant, financial advisor, and the people who should be contacted first
Tell your executor or a trusted family member where the binder is, and keep it somewhere secure. Items with sentimental value often cause more conflict than money, so consider a written memorandum saying who should receive them.
Get Started
I have been licensed in Texas since 1994. I work with clients online, by phone, and by video, and quote a flat fee before any work begins.
Schedule a free introductory conference to start your estate plan or review the one you have.
