5 Essential Estate Planning Documents to Have
If you're starting to think about estate planning, you may have heard that there are a handful of "must-have" documents. While every situation is different, most estate plans are built around five core pieces of paperwork. Here's a plain-English look at each one.
1. Last Will and Testament
This is the document most people think of first. It spells out how you want your belongings handled and who you want to make decisions on your behalf after you're gone. Without one, state law decides for you — which rarely matches what someone actually wanted.
2. Durable Power of Attorney
A durable power of attorney lets someone you trust manage your financial and legal affairs if you're unable to do so yourself. This can cover things like paying bills, managing accounts, or signing documents on your behalf. It typically needs to be properly signed and notarized to be valid.
3. Medical Power of Attorney
Similar to the financial version, but focused on healthcare decisions. This document names someone to speak for you medically if you can't speak for yourself. It's one of the more time-sensitive documents to have in place, since medical situations can change quickly.
4. Living Will or Advance Directive
This outlines your wishes for medical treatment in specific situations, such as end-of-life care. It gives guidance to both your medical power of attorney and your healthcare providers, so your loved ones aren't left guessing during a stressful moment.
5. HIPAA Authorization
This simple but often overlooked form allows your designated contacts to actually receive information from doctors or hospitals about your condition. Without it, even a spouse or adult child may be denied basic updates due to privacy rules.
Having the Documents Is Only Half the Job
Drafting these documents is one step. Making sure they're properly signed, notarized, organized, and easy for your trusted contacts to find when it matters is just as important. That's where a lot of families get stuck — paperwork ends up scattered across drawers, old emails, or forgotten files.
At One More Thing, we help people in Plano, Frisco, Allen, and Richardson organize essential information and create clear access plans so the right people can find what they need, when they need it. If notarization is part of what you're working through, our mobile notary service can come to you to help get documents signed properly.
Not sure where your plan stands? You can take our quick quiz to get a sense of what to prioritize, or browse our services and pricing to see how we can help put things in order.
Ready to Get Organized?
If you'd like help pulling these documents together or making sure your trusted contacts can actually access them, book a consultation and we'll walk through it with you. You can also learn more about how we work on our about page, or reach out directly at AngieMay@omtservices.com.