Estate Plans: Why You Should Have One
Many Americans don’t have an estate plan, but they probably should. It is an important component of personal and financial planning—and it doesn’t need to be complicated.
Chances are, you’ve heard about estate planning—even if you’re not exactly sure what it is and what it entails. Maybe family or friends have discussed the topic, or your financial advisor has urged you to create one. Having a formal estate plan is important because it lays out all of your wishes to occur at your passing. As such, it’s a vital component of your overall financial plan. The most basic estate planning document is a Will, but even then, a 2025 survey1 estimates that only about one-quarter of Americans have a Will.
For many people, an estate plan may also include other important documents, like Powers of Attorney (POAs) and Advance Healthcare Directives. A POA allows you to designate an agent to act on your behalf, should you become incapacitated, and is typically used for legal and financial matters. Advance Healthcare Directives, including Living Wills, empower you to specifically identify which, if any, life-sustaining treatments you’d prefer in the event you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious, and are thus unable to speak or decide for yourself.
For parents of young children, an estate plan will also include a provision that names a guardian for their children, in case both parents die or are incapacitated. If no guardian is named in the Will, or if there is not a Will, then the court will be forced to name one, and it could be someone you wouldn’t necessarily have chosen.
Still unsure about the value of estate plans?
While a common belief is that estate planning is exclusively for the ultra-wealthy, you can see that it’s valuable for most people. We’ve looked at a few broad benefits of having a formal estate plan in place. Now, here are three specific reasons why an estate plan is important.
1. If you don’t have a plan for your estate, your state does
Each state has different rules about how your estate will be handled and what happens to your property (i.e., all of the assets you own) after you pass away. The lack of even a simple estate plan means the state where you lived at the time of your death will determine what should happen to your estate. It’s quite possible that the state’s decisions regarding your property won’t align fully (or at all) with your wishes, and that would be a shame for your beneficiaries and your legacy.
2. No one can read your mind
It is important to remember that you are the only person who truly knows how you want your affairs to be handled in the event of your passing. Why not take the opportunity that an estate plan provides to express in a legal document what your wishes are regarding important aspects of your care and your assets?
We recommend that you take advantage of this opportunity to really think about your wishes and to work with your estate planning attorney and your Corient Wealth Advisor to see if they can offer any insight.
3. Even a mediocre plan is better than no plan at all
In a quest to establish the perfect plan, we might rethink our choices over and over, to the point of paralysis, and end up with no plan at all. This does your family a huge disservice and could leave them with a significant burden at your passing.
Estate plans are not written in stone. Most documents in your estate plan are revocable and can be modified at any point in time. Don’t let the idea of having the optimal plan triumph over having a plan altogether. It is a living, breathing document that will need to be modified as your circumstances or goals change.
You’ve created an estate plan: Now what?
Once the estate plan is in place, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your desires are formally documented, and that you have reduced much of the decision-making burden for your family—decisions that likely would’ve been made under extreme emotional duress.
As we mentioned above, since an estate plan is a fluid document, you should review and/or update it regularly. We recommend that clients review their estate plans every 3-5 years, or in the event of a significant life change: marriage or remarriage, divorce, death of a spouse, birth or adoption of a child, etc. At the very least, you’ll need to review the beneficiaries on your existing documents, as well as on your financial assets like IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance, etc.
If you experience a major wealth event, such as an inheritance or business sale, you may want to consider utilizing Trusts, as they can be useful to manage the distribution of assets, protect wealth and provide for beneficiaries in specific ways. Your Corient Wealth Advisor has many internal resources to help you think about when a Trust may make sense, and if so, what assets you might want to consider transferring to the Trust.
Professional help is readily available
Creating an estate plan may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be. An estate planning attorney and your Corient Wealth Advisor have the knowledge and experience to help you build a comprehensive plan that’s appropriate for your (and your family’s) specific circumstances. If you’re one of the estimated 75% of Americans without a valid, up-to-date Will, consider getting started today.
1 https://www.caring.com/resources/wills-survey
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Danziger
Jason is an Associate Partner, Director of Planning in the Investment Strategy Group at Corient. Previously, Jason was with Goldman Sachs where he focused on estate planning. Before that, he held positions at a trust company and accounting firms. Jason is a CPA® and CFP® professional. He earned an MPA in Tax from the University of Texas at Austin and a BSBA Finance and Accounting from Washington University in St. Louis.
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5108815 – January 2026
