Plan ahead
One careful afternoon. That's most of it.
You're well, you're sharp, you're reading this. That is the right time. The list below is short on purpose. We left out the things you can do later, or never.
The honest order of operations.
Do them top to bottom. The first one matters more than the rest combined. The last one is the one most families wish they'd done.
- 01
Pick your healthcare proxy. Tell them.
One person who can speak for you if you can't. Spouse, sibling, oldest child, best friend. Somebody who picks up the phone and won't freeze. Have the conversation in person if you can. Sign the form, witness it, give a copy to the proxy and to your primary doctor.
Read more → - 02
Write a basic will.
If your situation is simple (house, retirement account, kids, no second marriage, no business) an online will is enough and costs $0–$199. If your situation is messy or you live in a community-property state, hire an estate attorney for a few hundred more. Either way, sign and witness it.
Read more → - 03
Decide: cremation, burial, or have-a-conversation-later.
Even just writing down 'I want direct cremation, no service' on a sheet of paper saves your family from a $7,000 fight in a parking lot. If you want to pre-pay, that's an option. If you don't, that's also fine.
Read more → - 04
Look at a small final expense policy.
A $10,000–$25,000 whole-life policy, paid out within days of death, means nobody has to put a funeral on a credit card. Premiums are higher than term life but term life usually expires before you actually die. For someone aged 60 in good health, expect $30–$60 a month.
Read more → - 05
Tell three people where everything is.
Will, life insurance policy, advance directive, lawyer's name, accountant's name, the password to your laptop. Three people, written down, in a place that isn't only your phone. The most common probate problem is not the will. It's that no one can find anything.
Where to actually do each thing.
We've written a longer page on each of the four. Start with whichever feels least dreadful today. The healthcare proxy is the easiest, and the one with the worst consequence if you don't have it.
Advance directive
Healthcare proxy plus living will. Often free, takes 20 minutes. Start here.
Will (and maybe trust)
$0–$199 for a simple online will, $400–$1,500 for an attorney if your situation is messy.
Funeral or cremation
Pre-pay, or just write your wishes down. Either way, talk to your family about it before you do.
Final expense policy
Small whole-life policy that pays out within days. Useful if you don't have $15k in cash savings.
Read these too.
Three guides that pair with this page. None of them are short. None of them try to sell you anything.
Online wills compared: who is actually any good
We tried six. Two were great, two were fine, two we won't link to. Honest notes on each.
Living will vs healthcare proxy: which do I actually need?
Both, almost always. Here is what each does and the conversations to have before you sign.
Final expense insurance: who actually needs it
Not everyone. If you've got $20k in cash and a paid-off house, you can probably skip it. Here's the math.
Common questions from people in their 50s and 60s.
I'm 52 and healthy. Is it weird to be doing this now? +
No. Fifty-something is the most common age people start, and the earliest age at which an estate attorney we trust will tell you 'good timing'. The bad timing is the day after a stroke.
Can I do this without a lawyer? +
If your assets are simple (one house, normal retirement accounts, married once, no minor children with special needs) yes, a $0–$199 online will service is fine. If anything is unusual, spend $400–$1,500 once on an estate attorney. The cost of getting it wrong is your family.
What about a trust? Do I need one? +
Most people don't. Trusts make sense if you own property in more than one state, you want to keep things private, or you have an estate big enough that probate fees genuinely matter. For a typical Midwestern family with a paid-off house and a 401(k), a will plus correctly-named beneficiaries on accounts does the job.
How long does all this take? +
An afternoon for the basics. A weekend if you want it tidy. Years if you make it a project. We recommend the afternoon.