Estate planning is often thought of as something reserved for the wealthy, but the truth is, it’s essential for anyone who wants to protect their loved ones and ensure their wishes are honored. From planning asset distribution to leaving heartfelt messages, estate planning allows you to shape your legacy thoughtfully. In today’s digital age, platforms like Wills.com make estate planning accessible and streamlined, giving everyone the tools they need to secure their future.
Not only for Americans but for people from from all around the world, estate planning and the legacy we leave behind is deeply personal—a way to leave an impact on the lives of the people we care about. It is more about apportioning values, passing on wisdom & memories, heirlooms and taking care of the people closest to us after we are gone. Estate planning involves thinking about priorities: it’s life planning that outlives life itself. It shields them from financial and emotional stress by giving them an outline of how to sort out our affairs and look after our last wishes.
Succinctly stated, estate planning is the process of deciding who inherits your property, assumes your responsibilities, and carries out your desires when you are no longer able to. It’s the means by which you can take what you have built and touched in your life and transform it into a legacy, one reflecting your values, love for your family, and vision for their future.
Here at Wills.com, we provide this process to be accessible and smooth for people from all walks of life so one can ensure a meaningful way is planned for their legacy, regardless of background or how much money one may or may not have.
- Protecting Your Assets and Beneficiaries: After years of hard work, accumulating assets (eg; a house, a car, savings investments etc all treasured items you will want to ensure that this legacy you've build is conserved and benefits those you care about most. Estate planning lets you ensure these things reach the right hands, rather than being distributed by default state laws. This step protects what you’ve created and provides your family with security after you’re gone.
- Preventing Family Disputes:We’ve all heard of family conflicts arising from inheritance issues. Estate planning addresses this by creating clear instructions, which help reduce misunderstandings and prevent potential conflicts. Clear wishes enable family members to focus on healing, free from disputes over your legacy.
- Minimizing Taxes and Legal Costs: With a well-prepared estate plan, more of your assets reach your loved ones instead of being consumed by taxes and fees. Trusts and other strategies are useful tools in protecting wealth, ensuring your family benefits as fully as possible. This can make a vital difference, creating a more secure future for them.
- Preparing for Incapacity: Life is unpredictable, and preparing for unexpected events can ease the journey. Choosing someone to manage your finances or make medical decisions means your values are honored, even if you’re unable to express them. This planning step preserves your dignity and relieves loved ones of tough decisions.
Ultimately; estate planning goes beyond asset distribution; it is a promise to support your family’s future, reduce their burdens, and honor the love and values you cherish. Through Wills.com, we’re committed to making this process accessible, ensuring your legacy is one of care and thoughtfulness for those you hold dear.
Key Components of an Estate Plan.
- Will: A will is a straightforward document that outlines who will inherit your property, names guardians for minor children, and designates individuals to handle your estate. Wills.com makes it simple to create a will online quickly with state-specific templates and easy instructions.
How it works: Create your will in minutes on Wills.com using easy-to-follow templates tailored to your state’s laws.
- Trusts: Trusts are a flexible, private way to manage and distribute assets to beneficiaries and are often helpful in avoiding probate—a process that can be lengthy and costly. Wills.com offers options for living trusts, which allow users to assign beneficiaries and protect their legacy from delays.
Typically people typically make either a Will OR for more complicated estates they create a trust with a pour over will to account for everything that is not in the trust. - Power of Attorney (POA): A POA gives someone you trust the authority to handle financial matters if you’re unable to do so. This document lets a trusted individual make important decisions related to bills, property, and other assets on your behalf.
With Wills.com, users can create a legally binding POA, giving a trusted individual authority over their finances and helping to relieve family stress during emergencies. - Healthcare Directives and HIPAA Authorization: Healthcare directives, like a living will, allow you to specify medical treatments you would or wouldn’t want if you’re unable to communicate your wishes. A HIPAA authorization allows a chosen representative access to your medical records to make informed healthcare decisions on your behalf.
- Guardianship Arrangements for Children: For parents, estate planning is essential for naming a guardian for minor children. Without a specified guardian, courts may step in to decide who will care for your children. Specifying your choice through Wills.com helps secure your children’s future.
Who should consider this: Parents and guardians who want to ensure their children are cared for according to their wishes.
And making sure all these important documents and files are securely stored and that they will be delivered to those you care about. By downloading the Wills App For IOS and Android and automating the delivery of important documents, videos and more to the correct recipients when it matters most.
Storing and Delivering your Estate plan.
Creating and executing your estate plan whether will or trust based will be proven futile if you haven’t made sure the relevant people will receive a copy at the right time. Sure you can leave a copy with an attorney, or a trust company but this is expensive. The Wills app replaces these professional services with a simple app where you upload each file to a secure vault and specify the recipient for each of them. You then simply go about your business and when the app on your personal mobile phone notices that you’ve passed away it will send an email and or sms to notify them that you’ve made arrangements and that they can download the files and video memento’s on the wills.com website. It's really that simple
The way it works is simple but ingenious, you’re sent a notification before your select inactivity period lapses, anywhere between 14 to 90 days. Which you reset by unlocking the app with your personal pincode and biometrics.
Once the inactivity lapses (probably because you’ve passed on or have become incapacitated the Wills.com’s app sends automatic notifications to executors, trustees, and beneficiaries, informing them of files waiting to be viewed and downloaded from the wills.com website ensuring timely distribution of important estate planning documents, title deeds etc. This ensures no documents are lost
In addition to files you can also record and schedule video messages with Wills.com’s “Mementos” feature, filled with wisdom, memories, guidance, or encouragement for loved ones. These videos are stored securely and delivered the same way the vaultly files are.
For now the wills app focuses on automated delivery of Files and Video Memento’s but will gradually expand to include all aspects of your life. The grand vision is that the wills app becomes a robot that ties up all loose ends and ensures everything is taken care of exactly the way you want it.
Steps to Start Your Estate Plan with Wills.com
- Take Inventory of Your Assets: List your physical assets, financial accounts, digital properties, and personal belongings to include in your estate plan.
- Identify Beneficiaries and Heirs: Decide who should inherit your assets and how you want your estate distributed.
- Choose Guardians for Minors: If you have children, specify who you would like to take care of them.
- Select an Executor or Trustee: The executor is responsible for executing the terms of your will. Choose someone you trust and inform them of your wishes.
- Create and execute Your Plan on Wills.com> Using Wills.com, you can complete your will, establish a trust, designate POA, and set up healthcare directives. For certain states we offer remote online notarization ,
- (CRITICAL) Securely Store Your Plan in your vault and specify recipients of the files.
Upload all executed (signed) documents +important files to your Wills APP account for automated delivery posthumously ensuring none of them get lost when we pass away.
You have to add the designated recipients to each file (eg; trustee, beneficiary, attorney, etc) you are then prompted to check in with the app once every 14 to 90 days to let us know you’re still alive because once you fail to meet the inactivity timer we will send email notifications to the recipients to view or download their files on a secure are on the wills app.
Making Estate Planning Accessible For Everyone.
Estate planning is more than just paperwork; it’s about securing the future for those we love. The Wills app makes estate planning accessible, bringing peace of mind to everyone, not just the wealthy or elderly. Think of it as a digital guardian of your legacy, ensuring that your memories, assets, and messages reach the right people at the right time. Our mobile phones have become personal extensions of ourselves, almost like digital counterparts, and they carry a wealth of our daily interactions, contacts, and life plans. When we stop interacting with them, it’s a powerful indicator that we may have, as you said, “kicked the proverbial bucket.”
With the Wills app, this concept takes on a new depth. The app knows when you’ve stopped interacting, and once it’s confirmed, it triggers the delivery of everything you’ve planned. It’s a system that truly understands our digital connection to life itself and uses this bond to fulfill your legacy with efficiency and precision.
The Future Of estate planning is Automated Execution.
In the past, estate planning was complex, conventional trust services expensive, and reserved for those with the means to access it. Wills.com is changing that. Here’s how:
Automated Delivery with Peace of Mind: Imagine a system that will deliver not only your estate plan but also your most cherished memories to your loved ones. The Wills app doesn’t just handle the distribution of your estate—it delivers messages, videos, and personal mementos to recipients you’ve designated, exactly when they need them.
Built-in “Life Confirmation” System: By checking in periodically with the app, you maintain control over when things are distributed. The app keeps tabs on your interaction, recognizing when you stop using it. This function gives users unparalleled peace of mind, knowing their will is “alive” only as long as they are.
Comprehensive Digital Storage: Gone are the days of filing cabinets and stacks of paperwork. Wills.com offers secure digital storage for all estate documents—wills, trusts, healthcare directives, and more. You assign recipients for each file, and when it’s time, they gain access without delays or middlemen.
Mementos and Personal Messages: The Wills app’s “Mementos” feature allows users to record video messages, sharing stories, advice, or final words for loved ones. It’s a deeply personal way to keep your presence alive, ensuring that loved ones hear from you in a way that feels real and intimate, even long after you’re gone.
The Wills app brings estate planning into the digital age, where security and ease of access reign. More than a simple will-writing tool, it’s a comprehensive solution for ensuring that nothing is left unsaid and that your loved ones are protected.
In a world where people move, change, and grow, Wills.com offers a platform that evolves with you, so your estate plan is always up to date and in sync with your current wishes. Start today with Wills.com and create a legacy that’s as dynamic as life itself, accessible anytime, anywhere, and ready to deliver love, memories, and support exactly when it’s needed most.
• How to Notarize Your Will Remotely
• Choosing the Right Guardian for Your Child
Download the Wills App For Android and IOS today and start uploading and scheduling your interactive estate plan.
Have more questions? Explore additional topics in our Learning Center or connect with our customer support team through our Contact page. Wills.com provides easy-to-use legal forms and resources for estate planning. Please note that we are not a law firm and do not offer legal advice.