Estate Planning Checklist: The Documents, Accounts and Decisions to Gather, and Who Handles Each

An estate planning checklist gathers the documents and records that decide what happens to your money, property, health care, children and online accounts if you become unable to act, and after you die. A typical list covers a will and an executor, a guardian nomination for minor children, a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney or health-care proxy, a living will or directive, a HIPAA authorization, beneficiary designations, an inventory of accounts and property, digital-access instructions and a place to keep the originals. The signing rules for each document come from the law of the state that governs it. Some assets, such as retirement accounts, life insurance and payable-on-death accounts, can pass by beneficiary designation or ownership rules instead of through the will, as TexasLawHelp's estate planning overview (opens in a new tab) explains.

What belongs on an estate planning checklist?

The American Bar Association's beginner's guide to estate planning documents (opens in a new tab) describes a core set of papers that most plans share, although each state writes its own signing rules. These are the documents to gather or create:

• Will and executor. A will directs what happens to property that passes through the probate estate, names an executor to carry out those directions and can nominate a guardian for minor children.
• Durable financial power of attorney. This document lets an agent handle money and property matters for you during your life, including during a period of incapacity. TexasLawHelp (opens in a new tab) treats the financial and medical powers of attorney as separate documents, so the agent for your bank accounts is not automatically the person who speaks for you about medical care.
• Medical power of attorney or health-care proxy. This names an agent to make health-care decisions when you cannot make or communicate them yourself.
• Living will or directive to physicians. This states your treatment preferences for specified end-of-life or serious medical conditions.
• HIPAA authorization. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (opens in a new tab), an authorization permits disclosure of protected health information to the people you identify. It lets them receive information; it does not by itself give anyone authority to make decisions.
• Revocable trust, where used. A trust holds property under its terms during life and after death. The ABA guide describes a revocable trust as a tool for managing and administering property, and how it works depends on whether it is funded, what powers the trustee has and state law. Our comparison of a living trust and a will explains when people use one, the other or both.
• Beneficiary designations. These direct payment of specific accounts and policies under the account or policy contract.
• Practical records. Your account and property inventory, digital-account instructions and funeral or organ-donation wishes.

Which assets pass outside a will?

A will controls only the property that passes through probate. Many common assets follow a separate set of instructions, so a checklist needs a line for each of them:

• Employer retirement plans and many individual retirement accounts, through beneficiary designations.
• Life insurance, through the policy's named beneficiaries (see how much life insurance a family needs (opens in a new tab)).
• Bank accounts with payable-on-death designations.
• Securities accounts with transfer-on-death designations, where state law allows them.
• Joint accounts and real property held with rights of survivorship.
• Property owned by a trust, under the trust's terms.

TexasLawHelp (opens in a new tab) lists retirement funds, insurance proceeds, payable-on-death accounts, joint accounts and real property with survivorship rights among the assets that may pass outside probate. Retirement plans add a federal layer: the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA FAQ (opens in a new tab) explains that plans covered by ERISA often protect a surviving spouse's beneficiary rights and generally require the spouse's consent before you name someone else. The practical step is to request the current beneficiary and ownership record from each bank, insurer and plan administrator and compare it with your will. Our guide on how to avoid probate walks through these transfer methods one asset at a time.

Who handles each part of the plan?

Several people and offices touch an estate plan. A lawyer commonly drafts or reviews wills, trusts, more involved powers of attorney, special-needs and tax provisions, blended-family terms and plans that cover more than one state. For some powers of attorney and health-care directives, a statutory or approved form is available, and TexasLawHelp publishes Texas forms with instructions.

Witnesses sign where the governing statute requires them, as with a Texas formal will or a Texas directive to physicians. A notary takes acknowledgments where a statute requires one or offers notarization as an alternative to witnesses. Courts handle probate, guardianship and court-authorized appointments, and a county recorder may be involved when a document must be recorded. Banks, insurers and plan administrators keep beneficiary and ownership records, your physician places your directive in your medical record, and after death the executor or trustee carries out the plan.

Notary and recording fees vary by state, county, document and transaction. In Texas, confirm the current fee with the Texas Secretary of State, the county clerk or the notary before you rely on a figure.

What Texas requires to sign each document

Texas sets out its signing rules document by document, and each one is different.

A formal Texas will must be in writing, signed by you or by another person in your presence and at your direction, and attested by at least two credible witnesses age 14 or older who sign in your presence, under Texas Estates Code §251.051 (opens in a new tab). Section 251.052 (opens in a new tab) allows a will written wholly in your own handwriting without subscribing witnesses, and Chapter 251 of the Estates Code (opens in a new tab) also provides a self-proving procedure. Our guide to Texas will requirements covers these steps in more detail.

A Texas durable financial power of attorney must designate an agent, be signed by the adult principal or an authorized signer, contain the statutory durability language and be acknowledged before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments and administer oaths, under Estates Code §751.0021 (opens in a new tab). Texas also provides a statutory form with warnings, and our guide on how to get a power of attorney explains the choices.

A Texas medical power of attorney may be signed before a notary or before two competent adult witnesses, under Health and Safety Code §166.154 (opens in a new tab), and §166.003 (opens in a new tab) excludes certain people from serving as witnesses. A Texas directive to physicians needs two qualified witnesses, at least one of whom meets §166.003(2), or notarization instead, under §166.032 (opens in a new tab). Once it is signed, notify your attending physician, who places the directive in your medical record. TexasLawHelp offers a bilingual Texas advance directive form (opens in a new tab).

How New York and Michigan handle the same documents

In New York, Estates, Powers and Trusts Law §3-2.1 (opens in a new tab) generally requires a written will signed at the end, declared to be a will and attested by at least two witnesses within a 30-day period. A New York health-care proxy must be signed and dated in the presence of two adult witnesses who also sign, and the agent may not act as a witness, under Public Health Law §2981 (opens in a new tab).

Michigan uses a "patient advocate designation" for health-care authority. The Michigan Legislature's planning publication (opens in a new tab) points to sections 700.5506 through 700.5515 of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code, including acceptance requirements for the patient advocate. Check each document against the law of the state where you live now.

How to name a guardian for minor children

In Texas, Estates Code §1104.053 (opens in a new tab) lets a surviving parent appoint an eligible person as guardian of the person of a minor child, by will or by a written declaration. After the parent's death or incapacity, the court must appoint the person you designated ahead of others who would otherwise be entitled, unless that person is disqualified, has died, refuses to serve or another statutory condition applies. The court keeps its authority, so a nomination is a strong instruction rather than an automatic appointment. Because a designee may refuse or be unable to serve, the contact list in your estate file can include an alternate guardian.

New York handles guardianship appointments through court procedures under its own guardianship law, so the Texas preference rule does not carry over. For the court steps in Texas, see our guide on how to get guardianship in Texas.

How to organize digital accounts and passwords

In Texas, Estates Code Chapter 2001 (opens in a new tab), the Texas Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, gives personal representatives, guardians, agents and trustees authority over digital assets. Section 2001.201 (opens in a new tab) applies fiduciary duties to digital assets and makes that authority subject to the provider's terms of service, other law, the scope of the fiduciary's duties and a ban on impersonating the account owner.

A digital inventory lists email and cloud accounts, social media, digital photos and documents, cryptocurrency and wallets, websites and online businesses, and devices with their recovery methods. Store passwords securely and note where the access instructions are kept; your fiduciary may still need proof of authority, court documents or compliance with the provider's terms.

Which tax figures matter?

Federal estate tax applies only above a threshold the IRS publishes each year, so the current numbers belong in the file. For people who die in 2026, the IRS Form 706 instructions (opens in a new tab) set the federal basic exclusion amount at $15,000,000. A Form 706 must be filed when the gross estate, plus adjusted taxable gifts and the specific exemption, exceeds $15,000,000, and it is due nine months after death, with an extension of generally six months available through Form 4768.

Portability matters for married couples. The executor may elect to pass the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse by filing Form 706, even when the estate is below the ordinary filing threshold. Certain estates without a regular filing requirement can use the IRS five-year relief procedure under Rev. Proc. 2022-32, described in the IRS estate-tax FAQ (opens in a new tab).

State taxes differ. Texas does not impose a state estate or inheritance tax, as Texas Comptroller materials (opens in a new tab) describe. New York does have an estate tax, and the New York Department of Taxation and Finance (opens in a new tab) lists a 2026 basic exclusion amount of $7,350,000, with filing rules for residents and certain nonresidents who own New York property.

When should you review the plan?

The ABA recommends regular review (opens in a new tab), particularly after a marriage, divorce, birth of a child, changes involving children, health changes and other major life events. Add the death or incapacity of an executor, agent, trustee, guardian or beneficiary, a large asset change, a business sale or purchase, a new policy or retirement account, and a change in tax law.

Moving to another state deserves its own review. The new state may recognize your existing documents, but its signing rules, statutory forms, terms, property rules, real-estate recording requirements and health-care forms can differ, and the ABA notes (opens in a new tab) that states vary in whether they accept documents prepared elsewhere.

Where to keep documents, and who should know

A plan works only if the right people can find it. A single estate file can hold the original will and any codicils, trust documents, powers of attorney, advance directives and HIPAA authorization, and contact details for your executor, trustee, agents, guardian and alternates. Add account numbers and institutions, beneficiary records, deeds, vehicle titles, business records, debts and recurring bills, tax records, your digital inventory, Social Security and employer information, and contacts for your physician, lawyer, accountant and insurers.

Your executor will need much of this. A Texas application for probate calls for information about the person who died, their domicile, the death, the venue and the property, under Estates Code §256.003 (opens in a new tab). HHS identifies the executor or other legally authorized person as the personal representative (opens in a new tab) for a deceased person's health information. Give your physician a copy of your health-care documents, and tell your executor and agents where the originals are kept.

Frequently asked questions

These answers add detail that often comes up once the main documents are in place.

Who manages my finances if I become incapacitated and have no power of attorney?

The agent named in a durable financial power of attorney is the usual answer. Without one, a court process such as guardianship may be needed to give someone authority, because courts handle court-authorized appointments.

Does a living will name someone to make decisions for me?

No. A living will or directive to physicians states your treatment preferences for specified conditions, such as terminal or irreversible conditions, under your state's law. The person who speaks for you is named in a separate medical power of attorney or health-care proxy.

Is a notary required for every estate planning document?

It depends on the document and the state. In Texas, a durable financial power of attorney requires acknowledgment, while a medical power of attorney and a directive to physicians allow either notarization or qualified witnesses.

Next step

If your checklist turns up documents that need drafting, a will that predates a major life change or property in more than one state, a lawyer licensed in your state can review the details. You can find estate planning and probate lawyers in the Counselado directory, starting with Texas.