The paperwork that protects everything else you've built.

What you'll learn

• What a will does, what a trust does, and why California families often use both
• How probate works in California — and why so many people plan around it
• Why beneficiary forms quietly override wills (and the 15-minute audit that fixes it)
• The incapacity documents everyone needs: power of attorney and advance directive
• Where you stand: only 24% of 2025 survey respondents had a will, and just 13% a living trust (Caring.com)

Key concepts, in plain English

The will

A legal document naming who receives your property and who raises your minor children. Essential — and in California, a will alone generally still passes through probate. An estate-planning attorney drafts it; our role is helping you understand what to ask for.

The revocable living trust

A legal entity that holds assets during your life and passes them outside probate at death. Common in California precisely because probate here is slow and fee-heavy. Drafted by a licensed estate-planning attorney — never from a template you don't understand.

Probate in California

The court-supervised process of validating a will and distributing an estate. It's public, often takes many months, and fees scale with the size of the estate — three reasons trusts are so common in this state.

Beneficiary designations

The named recipients on 401(k)s, IRAs, and life insurance generally override whatever your will says. An ex-spouse on a forgotten form is the classic painful surprise. Reviewing every designation is a 15-minute audit anyone can do this week.

Power of attorney & advance directive

The 'while you're alive' documents: a power of attorney authorizes someone to handle finances if you can't, and an advance health-care directive records your medical wishes and names who speaks for you. Incapacity planning matters at every age, not just late in life.

Guardianship

Naming — usually in a will — who would raise your minor children. Without it, a court decides using its own criteria. For parents, this single decision is reason enough to start.

Myth vs. fact

Go deeper

• 7 min

  Why Every Family Needs a Will — Even Without Millions

  What a will actually does, what California's intestate succession formula decides when you skip it, and why a licensed estate-planning attorney is the right next step.

• 7 min

  Trust vs Will: When a Living Trust May Make Sense

  A plain-English comparison of wills and revocable living trusts — what each document does, how probate works, and why trusts are so common in California.

• 7 min

  Beneficiary Designations: The Hidden Estate Plan That Overrides Your Will

  Beneficiary forms on 401(k)s, IRAs, and life insurance generally override your will. Here's why surprises happen — and the 15-minute audit that prevents them.