You made a will.
Maybe Make-A-Will Month finally pushed it to the top of your list. Maybe it has been sitting on your to-do list for years and you finally decided it was time. Either way, you took an important step toward protecting your family and making your wishes clear.
That matters.
But at Wealth and Estate Law Group, one of the things we spend a lot of time helping Southern Utah families understand is that a will is only one piece of an estate plan.
We regularly meet with people who already have documents. Sometimes they created a will online. Sometimes another attorney prepared a trust years ago. Sometimes they have a beautiful estate planning binder that has been sitting safely on a shelf ever since it was signed.
The question we care about isn’t simply, “Do you have estate planning documents?”
It’s “Will your plan actually work when your family needs it?”
Because there is a big difference between having documents and having a complete, properly maintained estate plan.
If you recently made a will—or already have one sitting at home—here are a few things we believe are worth checking.
First, Understand What Your Will Actually Does
A will primarily provides instructions for what should happen to certain assets after your death. It can name beneficiaries, nominate guardians for minor children, and identify the person you want to handle your estate.
But a will does not automatically keep your family out of probate.
In Utah, property controlled by a will may still need to go through the probate process before it can be transferred to your beneficiaries. That can mean court involvement, additional expenses, delays, and more responsibility placed on your family at an already difficult time.
Your will also doesn’t necessarily control every asset you own.
Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and certain financial accounts can pass according to their beneficiary designations rather than the instructions in your will.
And your will generally doesn’t solve another major estate planning concern: what happens if you’re still alive but unable to make decisions for yourself?
That requires additional planning.
At Wealth and Estate Law Group, this is why we don’t view estate planning as simply drafting a will. We look at your family, your assets, your goals, and the risks that could affect the people you care about.
The bottom line: A will can be an important part of your estate plan, but it shouldn’t be mistaken for the entire plan.
Step 1: Make Sure Your Beneficiary Designations Match Your Plan
This is one of the easiest estate planning details to overlook.
You may have beneficiary designations on your:
- Retirement accounts
- Life insurance policies
- Annuities
- Bank or investment accounts
- Other financial assets
Those designations can determine where an asset goes regardless of what your will says.
And beneficiary forms have a habit of becoming little time capsules.
Maybe you filled one out when you started a job 15 years ago. Maybe a parent is still listed who has since passed away. Maybe you’ve remarried, had another child, started a business, or experienced another major change since you last looked at them.
We also see situations where minor children are named directly as beneficiaries without the parents realizing the complications that can create if the child inherits while still young.
That’s why beneficiary designations are something we discuss as part of the bigger estate planning picture.
We want to know not only who receives an asset, but what happens after they receive it.
Does the beneficiary designation coordinate with your trust?
Does it accomplish what you intended for your children?
Does it make sense for your current family circumstances?
Those questions matter.
The bottom line: Your estate planning documents and beneficiary designations should work together. If they don’t, your family may get a very different result than the one you intended.
Step 2: If You Have a Trust, Make Sure It Is Actually Funded
This is a big one.
If you already have a trust, ask yourself:
Are my assets actually connected to it?
Creating a trust and funding a trust are two different things.
Think of the trust as a container. Signing the trust creates the container. Funding is the process of making sure the appropriate assets are owned by, payable to, or otherwise properly coordinated with that trust.
Without that second step, the trust may not accomplish what you thought it would.
We see this frequently when reviewing older estate plans. A family paid to have a trust created, signed everything, put the documents in a binder—and assumed the work was finished.
Meanwhile, they purchased another property.
Opened a new bank account.
Changed investment companies.
Started a business.
Refinanced their home.
Life kept moving, but their estate plan didn’t move with it.
At Wealth and Estate Law Group, we put a strong emphasis on trust funding because the documents themselves are only useful if they properly coordinate with the assets they’re supposed to control.
For our clients, that means identifying assets, determining how they should coordinate with the plan, and giving families clear direction about what needs to happen next.
The bottom line: Creating the trust is only part of the job. Making sure your assets properly coordinate with it is what helps turn the document into a functioning plan.
Step 3: Plan for Incapacity, Not Just Death
Estate planning isn’t only about what happens after you die.
For many families, one of the more immediate risks is something happening while you’re still alive.
An accident.
A serious illness.
A medical emergency.
A period when you’re unable to handle financial or medical decisions yourself.
Your will isn’t designed to address those situations.
A more complete estate plan may include documents such as a durable financial power of attorney, advance healthcare directive, and HIPAA authorization so that the people you trust have appropriate authority if you cannot act for yourself.
And choosing those people deserves more thought than simply filling in a blank.
When we meet with families, we talk through what these roles actually require.
Who is responsible enough to manage finances?
Who can make difficult healthcare decisions?
Who understands your wishes?
Who can handle family dynamics when emotions are high?
The person you love the most isn’t automatically the person best suited for every job—and sometimes those are two very different conversations.
That’s one of the reasons we believe attorney-guided planning matters.
Our job isn’t simply to put names into documents. It’s to help you understand what those people may eventually be asked to do.
The bottom line: A complete estate plan protects you during your lifetime as well as your family after your death.
Step 4: Your Estate Plan Should Change When Your Life Changes
One of the biggest misconceptions about estate planning is that once you’ve signed everything, you’re done forever.
Unfortunately, life did not receive that memo.
Families change.
Assets change.
Businesses grow.
Children become adults.
Grandchildren arrive.
Relationships change.
People move.
Someone you named as a trustee, guardian, beneficiary, or healthcare agent may no longer be the person you would choose today.
Your plan should be reviewed as your circumstances change.
This is especially important for the families and business owners we work with throughout Southern Utah. Building a business, purchasing property, preparing for retirement, selling a company, or passing that company to the next generation can all affect an estate plan.
That’s why we encourage our clients to think of estate planning as an ongoing relationship rather than a one-time transaction.
We want to know when something changes.
We want you to have someone to call when you’re wondering whether a new property needs to be addressed, whether a beneficiary should change, or whether the plan you created years ago still accomplishes what you want today.
The bottom line: Your estate plan shouldn’t be frozen in time while the rest of your life keeps moving.
Why We Do Estate Planning Differently
It is easier than ever to create legal documents online.
And if creating a will online is what finally got you to start thinking about your estate plan, that’s a meaningful first step.
But documents aren’t really what families come to us for.
They come to us because they want to know:
Will my spouse be okay?
What happens to my children if something happens to us?
Can my family avoid unnecessary court involvement?
What happens to the business I’ve spent 20 years building?
Who will be in charge if I can’t handle things myself?
Will my children inherit responsibly—or suddenly receive more money than they’re prepared to manage?
Those questions don’t come with checkbox answers.
An online platform can explain what a successor trustee is. But it doesn’t know your brother, your business partner, your adult children, or the dynamics around your Thanksgiving table.
That context matters.
For example, naming an aging parent as successor trustee for young children might seem perfectly reasonable today. But will that person realistically be able to manage those assets years from now?
Leaving a large inheritance outright to a young adult may sound simple. But is that what you would want if your 21-year-old suddenly had access to hundreds of thousands of dollars?
And if you own a business, what happens Monday morning if you’re suddenly not there?
Who has authority?
Who owns it?
Who can access accounts?
Can the business continue operating?
Those are the conversations we believe estate planning should include.
At Wealth and Estate Law Group, our goal isn’t to sell you a binder full of documents.
Our goal is to help you build a plan that protects your family, your business, and the legacy you’ve worked hard to create.
Already Have a Will? Let’s Find Out What Comes Next.
If you made a will during Make-A-Will Month, congratulations—you started an important conversation.
Now make sure the rest of your plan keeps up.
During a Life & Legacy Planning Session, we take a broader look at your family, your assets, your existing documents, and what you want your plan to accomplish.
We can identify what’s already working, where there may be gaps, and what steps may help create a more complete plan.
Because estate planning isn’t about collecting legal documents.
It’s about knowing the people you love have a plan to follow when they need it most.
Your Legacy Matters.
Ready to find out where your current plan stands?
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute discovery call with Wealth and Estate Law Group.
