Make-A-Will Month: Let’s Talk About What a Will Can’t Do

A family called me after their mother died. She had a will. It was properly signed, legally valid, and she thought she had done what she needed to do.

The problem? Her will didn't answer some of the questions her family needed answered most. Who had legal authority to care for the children during those first critical days? Who could keep the mortgage paid while accounts were tied up in probate? And what did she actually want life to look like for her kids after she was gone?

She had an estate planning document. What she didn't have was a complete plan.

August is Make-A-Will Month, and there's a reason we need the reminder. Trust & Will's 2026 Estate Planning Report surveyed 5,000 U.S. adults and found that only 26% currently have a will, down from 31% the year before. Even more concerning, 56% have no estate planning documents at all.

So yes, please make the will. But don't make the mistake of thinking you're done.

A will is an important piece of estate planning. It just isn't the entire plan. Unfortunately, many families don't discover what's missing until they're already in a crisis and it's too late to go back and fix it.

Here's what your family actually needs.

Why Fewer People Are Making Wills 

Most people who don't have a will give pretty predictable reasons: they're too young, they don't have "enough" assets to need one, they don't particularly enjoy talking about death, or it's been sitting on the to-do list somewhere between organizing the garage and finally making that dentist appointment.

That's exactly why Make-A-Will Month exists. Sometimes we all need a nudge. And yes, having something in place is absolutely better than having nothing.

But here's the part we don't talk about enough: plenty of people who do have wills are walking around thinking they're fully protected when their documents are outdated, incomplete, or no longer reflect their lives. The will you created when your first child was born may not address baby number two, a divorce, a remarriage, or the guardian who has since moved 3,000 miles away. And that will sitting untouched in a drawer for fifteen years? It may name someone who isn't even alive anymore.

The bottom line: Not having a will is a problem. Having an outdated one and assuming you're all set can be just as risky.

What a Will Actually Does and Doesn't Do

A will absolutely has an important job in your estate plan. It says who should receive your assets. It allows you to name guardians for your minor children. And it gives you a place to spell out what you want to happen with your property and your estate.

But here's the part that doesn't always get explained when you sign one: there's a lot a will doesn't do.

A will does not keep your estate out of probate. Assets controlled by your will generally have to go through the probate court process before they can be distributed. That process is public, costs money, and can take months or sometimes much longer. In the meantime, access to estate assets can be delayed while your family waits for someone to receive legal authority to act.

A will also doesn't help you if you're alive but unable to make decisions for yourself. If you're seriously injured, become ill, or otherwise incapacitated, your will has zero authority. That's where separate documents come in, typically a healthcare directive and durable financial power of attorney, giving the people you choose the legal authority to step in and act for you.

And your will doesn't automatically control everything you own. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and other assets with beneficiary designations generally pass according to those designations. Jointly owned property may also pass outside the will depending on how it's titled. If your beneficiary form still names someone you no longer want receiving the asset, your beautifully updated will generally can't swoop in and fix it.

The bottom line: A will matters. It's an important piece of estate planning. But it's one piece and having one doesn't necessarily mean your family has the protection you think they do.

What Most Parents Forget to Plan For

For parents with minor children, the most important reason to have an estate plan isn't your house, your retirement account, or what's sitting in the bank.

It's your kids.

Here's the part most parents never think about: if something happens to both of you, there can be a critical window before a court proceeding takes place and a long-term guardian has legal authority. During those first few days, who can pick your children up from school? Who can take them to the doctor? Who has the authority to make sure they're with someone they know and trust instead of caught in the middle of an emergency?

Your will can name the person you want to serve as guardian long term. But that doesn't necessarily solve what happens during those first critical hours and days.

This is a question I ask parents during planning sessions all the time: Who has legal authority to step in immediately, not eventually?

Most parents look at me and realize they've never thought about it.

And naming a guardian is only the beginning. Does that person know how you actually want your children raised? Have you talked about education? Technology? Money? Religion? The values that matter to your family? The things you probably assume they "just know" but have never actually said out loud?

Then there's the practical side. Would your guardian have enough financial support to raise your children without creating a financial burden for their own family? Who manages the money? And what happens if the person you've chosen is unable or simply no longer willing to serve when the time comes?

That's why I include a Kids Protection Plan® as part of planning for families with minor children. It's designed to go beyond simply naming a long-term guardian by putting instructions and legal protections in place for those critical first days and helping ensure the people you've chosen know what you want for your children. A will names a guardian. A Kids Protection Plan® helps make sure there's an actual plan for what happens next.

The bottom line: Planning for who raises your children someday matters. Planning for who takes care of them in the first hours and days matters too. Most families haven't adequately planned for either.

What Estate Planning Looks Like When It’s Done Right 

Make-A-Will Month is a great reminder. But the goal isn't to sign a will, stick it in a drawer, and proudly check "estate planning" off your list. The goal is to have a plan that actually works when your family needs it most.

Through the Estate Planning process, I help families put all the pieces together: avoiding probate where possible, protecting minor children with a Kids Protection Plan®, putting the right people in the right legal roles, and coordinating with your financial advisor and accountant so your legal and financial planning aren't accidentally working against each other. And because your life isn't going to look exactly the same five or ten years from now, we review the plan as things change. A stack of documents can't do that. An ongoing relationship can.

Wills and trusts are important. But they're tools, not the plan itself. Real protection comes from having a trusted advisor who understands your family, knows what you've built, and helps you think through what needs to happen, not just what documents satisfy the minimum legal requirements.

The bottom line: An Estate Plan is designed around your real life, your real family, and everything you've worked hard to build. The goal isn't simply to have documents. It's to make sure what you've built actually works for the people you built it for.

Is Your Plan Built Around What Matters Most to You?

A lot of estate planning conversations start with fear. What happens if I die? What happens to my kids? What if I'm incapacitated? Those are important questions, and sometimes fear is exactly what finally gets someone through the door.

But the families who feel best about their plans usually get to something bigger than fear. They get clear about what matters most to them and then they make intentional decisions to protect it.

That's what an Estate Plan is really about. Yes, we're creating the legal structure. But we're also having conversations about your family, your values, and what you want the people you love to know when you're no longer there to tell them yourself.

Who do you trust to raise your children, and do they understand why you chose them?

What do you want your children to know about money, responsibility, family, and the decisions you've made? What does it mean to you to take care of the people you love and be a good steward of everything you've worked so hard to build?

You won't find those answers on a legal form.

They come from real conversations. And when we take the time to have them, the documents we create are based on something much more meaningful than a list of assets. They're built around your family, your priorities, and what you actually want your plan to accomplish.

Planning this way doesn't just feel more personal. It creates a better plan, one your family can actually understand and use because it reflects who you are and what you intended, not simply the minimum the law requires.

The bottom line: The best estate plans aren't built around what you're afraid might happen. They're built around what matters most to you. That's what makes a plan worth having.

Why Estate Planning Isn't a DIY Project 

I've gotten the call from families who used an online estate planning service, printed the documents, signed them, and checked "estate plan" off the list.

The problem? The will may have been technically valid, but the plan had holes. One guardian was named with no backup. There was nothing in place for incapacity. Beneficiary designations hadn't been reviewed. And some of them still pointed to accounts or people that were no longer part of the picture.

Online platforms have made it incredibly easy to create legal documents. That's convenient. But a form doesn't know your family. It doesn't know whether you've followed your state's specific signing and witnessing requirements. It doesn't know that your child has special needs and may require a carefully designed trust to preserve government benefits. And it certainly isn't going to notice that your life insurance still names a parent who died ten years ago.

A Personal Family Lawyer® doesn't just hand you documents. I ask the questions you may not know you need to ask, identify the gaps you didn't know were there, and build the plan around the answers. And my job doesn't end when you sign on the dotted line. When life changes or something happens, your family already knows who to call.

The bottom line: An online form can give you documents. A Personal Family Lawyer® helps make sure those documents actually work for the family you're trying to protect.

What You Can Do Today 

August is Make-A-Will Month. Take the hint. But don't make the mistake of thinking a will means you're done.

As your Personal Family Lawyer®, I help families create an Estate Plan that goes beyond a stack of signed documents. We look at your actual family, your assets, your wishes, and what needs to happen if life doesn't go according to plan, then build the legal protections around all of it.

Schedule a complimentary 15-minute discovery call, and let's see what you have, what's missing, and what your family actually needs: https://pages.20westlegal.com/schedule/15-minute-intro-call

This article is a service of 20West Legal, a Personal Family Lawyer® Firm. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That's why we offer an Estate Planning Session, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule an Estate Planning Session.

The content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own, separate from this educational material.

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