What happens to everything you’ve built?

Your state’s intestacy laws decide who inherits, in a fixed order that usually starts with a spouse and children, then parents, siblings, and more distant relatives. A court appoints someone to manage the estate. If you have minor children and no surviving parent, a judge also chooses their guardian. The result may not match what you would have chosen.

A will is a set of instructions that a court carries out after you die, through probate. A revocable living trust holds your assets during your life and passes them to your beneficiaries through a trustee you choose, usually without probate. Many estate plans use both: a trust for most assets and a pour-over will as a backup.

No. Probate is the court process that confirms a will is valid, pays final debts, and distributes what’s left, and a will is carried out through it. Probate is public and can take months. Assets held in a living trust, jointly owned assets with survivorship rights, and accounts with a named beneficiary generally pass outside probate. Many states also have simpler procedures for small estates.

A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement that holds your assets while you’re alive and passes them to your beneficiaries after you die. You usually serve as your own trustee and can change the trust at any time. Funding means moving assets into the trust’s name, such as recording a new deed for your home or retitling bank and investment accounts. A trust only controls what has been moved into it.

A pour-over will works alongside a living trust. It directs that anything you own at death that isn’t already in the trust goes into it, so the trust’s instructions apply. Assets that pass this way generally still go through probate, which is why funding the trust matters.

Generally, yes. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts go to the person named on the beneficiary form, regardless of what your will says. Review those forms after a marriage, divorce, birth, or death so they match the rest of your plan.

A power of attorney is a document that names someone, called your agent, to act on your behalf. A durable financial power of attorney lets your agent handle money matters, such as paying bills and managing accounts, and keeps working if you become unable to make decisions. Without one, your family may need to ask a court to appoint a guardian or conservator.

An advance directive, often called a health care directive, names someone to make medical decisions for you if you can’t, and records your wishes about treatment, including end-of-life care. States use different names and forms for it, such as a health care proxy, a living will, or a medical power of attorney.

In most states, no. A typed will is usually valid when you sign it in front of two witnesses who also sign. Many states let you add a notarized self-proving affidavit so the witnesses don’t have to testify later, and a few allow a notary in place of witnesses. Signing rules vary by state, and the guide above shows yours.