Estate & Planning
When Should You Make or Update a Will?
A will answers only one part of the planning question. Families may also need to know who can act during your lifetime, who can speak when you cannot, and what you want them to do.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
That may sound blunt, but it is the honest reason not to keep postponing important planning. You do not want to leave your family in a lurch—trying to guess what you wanted, find the right paperwork, provide for people or animals who depended on you, manage your responsibilities, or carry out your final wishes without clear direction.
A will is not only for someone who is elderly, seriously ill, or extremely wealthy. It can matter to parents, especially single parents; people with pets; athletes; people with hazardous or higher-risk jobs; business owners; homeowners; people with savings, retirement accounts, digital assets, sentimental property, or complicated family relationships; and ordinary adults who simply want to make things easier for the people they love.
But a will is only one part of the plan. It generally addresses what happens after death. It does not automatically appoint someone to handle your finances while you are alive and incapacitated, give someone access to all of your healthcare information, or state every medical treatment choice.
The more useful question is not only, “Do I need a will?” It is also: Who can act during my lifetime? Who can speak if I cannot? What do I want them to do? And what happens after I die?
A will is not just for “sickly people” or older adults
Many people wait because estate planning feels like admitting that something bad is about to happen. Others believe they do not own enough to make a will worthwhile.
Planning is not a prediction. It is preparation.
Even if you do not consider yourself wealthy, you may have more responsibilities and personal decisions than you realize:
- children or other people who depend on you;
- a pet that will need a safe home and financial support;
- a home, vehicle, bank account, retirement plan, insurance policy, or business interest;
- family heirlooms, jewelry, collections, photographs, recipes, or sentimental belongings;
- online accounts, stored files, creative work, or digital property;
- a person you specifically want—or do not want—to receive something;
- preferences about who should manage your estate and carry out your instructions.
A qualified attorney can explain what belongs in a will, what passes outside a will through ownership or beneficiary designations, and what other planning tools may be appropriate. A notary cannot make those legal decisions for you.
What a will generally does
A will is a document that states how certain property should be handled after death and can nominate the person who will administer the estate. Parents may also use estate planning to address guardianship and financial arrangements for minor children, but those decisions deserve individualized legal advice—especially for a single parent or a family with special circumstances.
If a person dies without a valid will, the intestacy laws that apply to the estate determine how probate property is distributed. That statutory result may not match the person’s assumptions or personal relationships.
Will-signing, witness, notarization, self-proving-affidavit, and probate requirements vary by state. A will may not require notarization even when an associated affidavit does. The notarization is not the same thing as drafting the will, confirming its legal sufficiency, or deciding whether it expresses the person’s intentions correctly.
Because mistakes may not become obvious until after death—when the signer can no longer correct them—a will is a document worth preparing with a qualified attorney licensed in the applicable jurisdiction rather than guessing from a generic form.
A power of attorney solves a different problem
A will generally speaks after death. A power of attorney generally grants another person, called an agent, authority to act for the principal during the principal’s lifetime within the powers actually granted.
A financial power of attorney may address matters such as banking, bills, property, insurance, taxes, business affairs, or other financial and legal tasks. The exact authority depends on the document and governing law. Some actions require specific language, and broad wording can give an agent significant control. People should seek legal advice and understand the document before signing.
A durable power of attorney may remain effective after incapacity, depending on its terms and applicable law. It should not be described as permission for an agent to do anything the agent wants. The agent must remain within the authority granted and has legal duties to the principal.
A power of attorney also should not be treated as a substitute for a will. Authority under an ordinary financial power of attorney is generally designed for the principal’s lifetime and generally ends at death, subject to governing law. Families should not plan on an agent continuing to manage the estate as though nothing changed. After death, authority shifts to the estate process and the proper personal representative.
Healthcare planning is another separate part
Healthcare planning may include an advance healthcare directive, a healthcare power of attorney, a living will, a HIPAA authorization, or other documents recommended for the person’s circumstances. These documents can address different questions:
- Who may receive medical information?
- Who may make healthcare decisions if the person cannot?
- What treatments or outcomes matter most to the person?
- When does an agent’s authority begin?
- Are there treatment limits or specific instructions?
Those are deeply personal decisions. The person making the document—not the family member, agent, witness, or notary—should understand the choices and express their own wishes.
I once assisted with a notarization involving a person living with a progressive medical condition. He had decided that he did not want resuscitation under the circumstances covered by his medical planning. A close family member did not personally agree and had assumed he would want to be resuscitated. But after hearing what he wanted and why quality of life mattered to him, she accepted that her responsibility was to honor his wishes rather than replace them with her own.
That experience stayed with me because it showed why these conversations and documents matter. Without clear instructions, even loving family members may sincerely assume the wrong thing.
The example should not be read as saying that a notary creates a do-not-resuscitate order. A DNR is a medical order issued by an authorized healthcare practitioner under applicable medical law. It is not the same as a will, and a notary cannot advise a patient about treatment choices.
Who should think about planning now?
Parents and single parents
Parents have immediate practical reasons to plan: care for minor children, management of property for their benefit, emergency authority, life insurance, beneficiary designations, and the people they trust to carry out responsibilities. A single parent may have fewer automatic layers of backup and should not assume that family members know what to do.
People with pets
Pets cannot inherit property directly in the same way a person can. An attorney can explain lawful planning options, including who should take the animal, what funds or instructions may be used, and what happens if the first choice cannot serve. A conversation alone may not be enough if the caregiver, money, and instructions are disconnected.
Athletes and people in hazardous occupations
Professional and recreational athletes, first responders, transportation workers, construction workers, healthcare workers, military personnel, frequent travelers, and others exposed to elevated physical risk may have reasons to prepare early. Risk is not limited to a diagnosis or a certain age.
Business owners and people others depend on
An owner should consider who can access essential records, continue or wind down operations, manage accounts, contact clients, and address obligations if the owner becomes incapacitated or dies. Business succession may require coordinated legal, financial, tax, insurance, and operational planning beyond a personal will.
People with substantial wealth—and people who do not feel wealthy
Larger or more complicated estates may require sophisticated tax, trust, and succession advice. But modest estates can still create serious family problems when instructions are missing. The need for clarity is not measured only by net worth.
Life changes that should trigger a review
Creating a plan once and forgetting it can leave outdated names, responsibilities, and assumptions in place. Consider asking an attorney whether a review is appropriate after:
- marriage, separation, divorce, or the death of a spouse or partner;
- the birth or adoption of a child;
- a child becoming an adult;
- buying or selling a home or other major property;
- starting, buying, selling, or closing a business;
- a significant change in assets, debt, insurance, or beneficiaries;
- a new diagnosis, disability, accident, or change in caregiving needs;
- the death, incapacity, relocation, or changed relationship of an executor, agent, guardian, trustee, beneficiary, or caregiver;
- moving to another state;
- acquiring a pet or changing the intended caregiver;
- major changes to the law or to your personal wishes.
Not every event requires a completely new plan. The point is to review rather than assume the old documents still match your life.
Questions to bring to an attorney
A productive planning appointment can begin with questions such as:
- What happens under the law that applies to my estate if I die without a will?
- Which property would pass through my will, and which would pass another way?
- How should I plan for minor children or another dependent person?
- How can I plan for my pet?
- Who should manage my estate after death?
- Who should handle financial matters if I cannot act during my lifetime?
- Who should make healthcare decisions if I cannot communicate?
- Which documents should be coordinated with beneficiary designations, insurance, jointly owned property, trusts, or business agreements?
- What signing, witnessing, and notarization requirements apply to each document?
- When should I review or update the plan?
Bring accurate information about family relationships, assets, debts, insurance, businesses, beneficiaries, and the people you may want to appoint. Do not sign unfinished legal documents or ask a notary to choose language for you.
Where notarization fits
Different documents have different execution requirements.
Will, self-proving-affidavit, power-of-attorney, healthcare-document, witness, and notarization requirements vary by jurisdiction and document. The attorney or document preparer should identify what is required. Wells Notary Service does not provide third-party witnesses.
When Wells performs the requested notarization, Pennsylvania law governs my notarial act because I am a Pennsylvania commissioned notary—even when the remote customer is located in another state. That does not make Pennsylvania law govern the customer’s underlying will, power of attorney, healthcare directive, or estate plan.
Healthcare documents and medical orders have their own requirements. Do not assume the process for one document applies to another.
The notary’s role is to perform the requested lawful notarial act on a document that has already been selected and prepared. A notary does not draft the will or power of attorney, select agents or beneficiaries, determine mental capacity as a court or clinician would, advise on treatment, or guarantee that a document will accomplish its legal purpose.
Written plans reduce guessing
Planning does not remove every difficulty from illness, incapacity, or death. It can reduce uncertainty and give the people you trust a clearer path.
The former customer I described did not leave his sister to guess what he would have wanted. His choice was difficult for her, but it was his choice. Clear planning helped her understand that supporting him meant respecting his wishes, not substituting her own.
That is why these documents are not only for sick or elderly people. They are tools for parents, workers, athletes, pet owners, business owners, wealthy families, and ordinary adults who want to care for the people they may someday leave behind.
If an attorney-prepared will affidavit, power of attorney, or other eligible document requires notarization, Wells Notary Service can help with the requested notarial act. If you still need to decide what documents, instructions, agents, or beneficiaries are right for you, speak with a qualified attorney first.
This article provides general educational information and is not legal or medical advice. Wells Notary Service LLC is not a law firm and does not select, draft, interpret, or approve legal documents. Requirements and legal effects vary by document, circumstances, transaction, and jurisdiction. Consult a qualified attorney and appropriate healthcare professionals about your specific planning and medical decisions. Notarization does not establish that a document is legally valid, sufficient, or acceptable for its intended purpose.