What do I need to know about estate planning if I'm under 40 and don't have a will or trust?

By Fidelis Solutions · Published May 31, 2026

You probably think estate planning is something you'll do "later" — but a single life event, a marriage, a new job, a child, a health scare, can make that "later" too late.

Here is what most people under forty don't realize. Right now, today, if something happened to you, a court — not your family, not your partner, not your best friend — a court would decide who raises your children, who inherits your savings, and who makes your medical decisions. That process is governed by state intestacy law under the Uniform Probate Code, sections 2-101 and beyond, and it does not ask what you would have wanted.

That is not a scare tactic. That is just how the law works when you leave no instructions behind.

And the hard truth is that most people under forty leave no instructions. Not because they don't care. Because they assume estate planning is for the wealthy, or the elderly, or for people with complicated lives. They put it on the list of things to get to later. And later has a way of arriving before you're ready.

In the next fifteen minutes, we are going to change that.

We are going to walk through the three documents that form the foundation of every sound estate plan — a will, your beneficiary designations, and a healthcare power of attorney. These are not complicated instruments reserved for high-net-worth individuals. These are basic legal protections that every adult needs, and you can begin putting them in place today.

Fidelis Estate built this process specifically for people who have never done this before. The firm pairs licensed professionals with AI-assisted document tracking, so nothing falls through the cracks and you always know exactly where you stand and what comes next. You do not have to navigate this alone, and you do not have to be an expert to get an expert outcome.

By the time this video ends, you will know what to build, why it matters, and precisely how to start.

Let's get into it.

Let's start with the most fundamental document in any estate plan — the will.

A will is a legal instrument that directs the distribution of your probate estate after you die. That phrase — "probate estate" — is important, and we'll come back to it. But the core idea is simple. A will tells a court, a family, and a financial institution exactly what you intended. Without one, your state's intestacy laws make that decision for you.

The Uniform Probate Code, specifically sections 2-101 and following, establishes the default framework that most states use when someone dies without a will. Under that framework, assets flow to a priority list — spouse first, then children, then parents, then siblings. That sounds reasonable on the surface. But the law doesn't know your life. It doesn't know that you're estranged from a parent. It doesn't know that your closest person is a partner you've been with for six years but never married. It doesn't know that you wanted a specific piece of property to go to a sibling who helped you when no one else did.

Here's a concrete example. Imagine a 34-year-old named Marcus. Marcus has a checking account, a car, and a small investment account. He's been living with his girlfriend, Priya, for four years. They're not married. Marcus dies unexpectedly — no will in place. Under intestacy law in most states, Priya receives nothing. His assets pass to his parents, or if his parents have also passed, to his siblings. Priya, the person who knew him best and shared his daily life, has no legal claim. That outcome isn't a malfunction of the system. That is exactly how the system is designed to work when you leave no instructions.

A valid will changes that outcome entirely. Marcus could have named Priya as a beneficiary of his probate estate. He could have specified the investment account, the car, or any other asset. A will also allows Marcus to name an executor — the person legally authorized to carry out his instructions and manage the probate process. Without that designation, a court appoints someone, and that someone may not be the person Marcus would have chosen.

Now, wills do go through probate, which is a court-supervised process. Probate timelines and costs vary by state, but the process is manageable when a properly drafted will is in place. The chaos — the family disputes, the frozen accounts, the delays — those outcomes are far more common when there is no will at all.

Fidelis Estate uses AI-assisted document tracking to flag when a will needs to be updated — after a marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child, or a significant asset change. A human professional at Fidelis Estate then walks you through exactly what needs to be revised and why. You're not staring at a legal checklist alone. You have a guide, and the technology makes sure nothing falls through the cracks.

The question is never whether you have enough assets to justify a will. The question is whether the people you love deserve to know what you intended. A will answers that question on your behalf, in language the law will honor.

Now, here is where most people make a critical mistake — and it costs their families dearly.

You might spend time drafting a will, getting it notarized, filing it carefully. And then you open a Roth IRA, name your college roommate as the beneficiary, get married five years later, and never update it. When you die, that IRA goes to your college roommate. Not your spouse. Not your children. Your college roommate. The will you wrote means nothing for that account.

This is not a hypothetical. This happens every year across the country, and it happens because most people do not understand the single most important distinction in estate planning — the difference between your probate estate and your non-probate assets.

Let me make this clear.

A will governs your probate estate. That includes things like bank accounts held in your name alone, personal property, real estate without a named co-owner, and assets without a designated beneficiary. Probate is the court-supervised process that validates your will and transfers those assets.

But retirement accounts — your IRA, your 401(k), your Roth IRA — do not pass through probate at all. Neither does your life insurance policy. These accounts transfer directly to whoever is named on the beneficiary designation form, and that designation supersedes every instruction written in your will. This is codified in IRS Publication 590-B and reinforced under Treasury Regulation 1.408-8(d)(1), which governs IRA beneficiary elections.

That means the beneficiary form you filled out when you were 24 and starting your first job controls where that money goes — regardless of what your will says, regardless of who you married, regardless of how your life changed.

So what should you do?

First, locate every account that carries a beneficiary designation. That includes your employer-sponsored 401(k), any individual retirement accounts, your life insurance policies, and any annuities you hold. Many employer plans are administered through platforms like Fidelity Investments or Vanguard, and each platform has its own process for updating designations.

Second, name both a primary beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary. A primary beneficiary receives the assets when you die. A contingent beneficiary receives them if your primary beneficiary dies before you or disclaims the inheritance. Skipping the contingent designation is one of the most common and most expensive oversights in estate planning.

Third, review these designations every time a major life event occurs — marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a named beneficiary. The IRS does not automatically update your elections. Your HR department does not update them. You update them.

The Social Security Administration also recommends maintaining accurate beneficiary records to ensure efficient claims processing for survivors, as outlined in SSA Publication 05-10003, "Your Social Security Statements."

Now here is where Fidelis Estate brings something genuinely different to this process.

Most people do not track these designations systematically. They fill out a form, forget about it, and only discover the problem after a life event has already occurred — or worse, after the account holder has died. Fidelis Estate uses AI-assisted document tracking to maintain a living record of every beneficiary designation tied to your estate plan. The system flags outdated elections, identifies accounts missing a contingent beneficiary, and surfaces action items before they become irreversible problems. A Fidelis Estate professional reviews those flags with you — not an algorithm making unilateral decisions, but a trained advisor walking alongside you, using the AI to see further and act faster than either could alone.

Think of it this way. The AI is the map. The advisor is the guide who knows the terrain.

Beneficiary designations are not a formality. They are a legal instruction that overrides your will. Getting them right — and keeping them current — is one of the highest-impact actions you can take in your estate plan today.

So we have talked about wills, and we have talked about beneficiary designations. Now we need to talk about the document that most young adults never think about until it is too late — and it has nothing to do with your money.

It is the healthcare power of attorney. Sometimes called a healthcare proxy. And it may be the most personally important document in this entire conversation.

Here is the scenario. You are 32 years old. You are in a car accident, or you have a sudden medical event, and you are unconscious in a hospital bed. You cannot speak. You cannot make decisions. The doctors need direction.

Who speaks for you?

Without a healthcare power of attorney in place, the answer to that question is not simple. State law determines who has the legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. In some states, that defaults to a spouse. In others, it moves through a hierarchy — parents, adult children, siblings. If your family disagrees about your care, there is no clear legal authority to settle it. That disagreement can delay treatment. It can create family conflict at the worst possible moment.

The Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, sections 5-501 through 5-510, governs how states implement these designations. A valid healthcare power of attorney names a specific person — called your healthcare agent — and grants them legal authority to make medical decisions consistent with your wishes when you cannot make them yourself.

This document is not about death. It is about incapacity. It is about the weeks or months when you are alive but unable to advocate for yourself.

Many healthcare proxy forms also include a living will component — sometimes called an advance directive. That section lets you record specific instructions about life-sustaining treatment, resuscitation, and end-of-life care. You are not leaving those decisions to chance or to exhausted family members making impossible choices under pressure.

Now here is what Fidelis Estate sees over and over again. People complete a will. They update their beneficiary designations. And then they stop. The healthcare proxy never gets done because it feels emotional. It feels distant. It feels like something that applies to older people.

But incapacity does not check your age before it arrives.

The good news is that a healthcare power of attorney is not a complicated document to execute. In most states, it requires your signature, a witness, and in some jurisdictions, notarization. What makes it hard is not the paperwork. What makes it hard is not knowing where to start, and not having someone walk you through the language so you understand what you are actually signing.

That is exactly where Fidelis Estate's approach makes a difference. A professional guides you through the document. The AI-assisted tracking system Fidelis Estate uses ensures the form is completed correctly for your specific state's requirements, that your named agent receives a copy, and that the document is flagged for review when your circumstances change — a new relationship, a move to a different state, a shift in your wishes.

Because here is something most people do not realize. A healthcare proxy is not a one-and-done document. If you move from Texas to New York, state requirements differ. If the person you named as your healthcare agent is no longer in your life, the document needs to reflect that. Staying current matters.

The Social Security Administration also encourages individuals to maintain updated personal records, including healthcare directives, as part of responsible long-term planning. [SSA Pub. 05-10003, "Your Social Security Statements"] notes the importance of keeping your personal information current so that benefits and related claims can be processed efficiently on your behalf or on behalf of your family.

So to recap what section three means for you practically — you need three core documents working together. A will that directs your probate estate. Beneficiary designations that govern your accounts and policies. And a healthcare power of attorney that designates a trusted person to make medical decisions when you cannot.

These three documents form the foundation. They are not the ceiling of estate planning — but they are the floor. And without that floor, everything else is built on nothing.

When you work with Fidelis Estate, you do not have to figure out which document to start with, which state forms apply to you, or whether your current plan has gaps. A professional walks through that with you. The AI-assisted system tracks what is complete, what is missing, and what needs to be revisited. You leave with clarity, not confusion.

If you are ready to build that foundation today, start your intake at Fidelis dot solutions slash intake. A real professional will walk you through every step.

Here is where we land.

A will directs what you own. A beneficiary designation moves what bypasses your will. A healthcare proxy protects your voice when you cannot speak for yourself. Together, those three documents form the legal foundation that protects every person you love — regardless of your age, your net worth, or how complicated you think your finances are.

The Uniform Probate Code at sections 2-101 and following does not wait for you to feel ready. State intestacy law takes effect the moment you pass without a valid will, and it distributes your assets according to a formula — not according to your intentions. That formula does not know your story.

Fidelis Estate exists because navigating that territory alone is unnecessary. A professional walks with you through every document, every designation, every decision point. AI-assisted tracking, built into the Fidelis Estate workflow, monitors your beneficiary designations across retirement accounts governed by IRS Publication 590-B and life insurance policies so that no update falls through the cracks after a marriage, a divorce, or the birth of a child. The checklist does not forget. The professional does not disappear.

[Founder Name] built Fidelis Estate on a simple conviction — that every family deserves the kind of clarity wealthy families pay professionals to create. That clarity is now available to you today, not later.

Your next step is straightforward. Go to Fidelis dot solutions slash intake. A professional will review your situation, identify the three to five documents your estate plan needs right now, and walk you through exactly how to execute them. No overwhelm. No guesswork. Just a clear path forward, built for where you actually are.

The best estate plan is not the most complex one. It is the one that exists. Start yours today at https://www.fidelis.solutions/intake.

You've spent the last fifteen minutes learning that estate planning isn't a luxury reserved for the wealthy or the elderly. A will, your beneficiary designations, and a healthcare power of attorney are the three documents that stand between your intentions and a court deciding your future. You now know that without a will, the Uniform Probate Code hands that decision to state intestacy law. You know that beneficiary designations on your IRA or 401(k) supersede every instruction in your will under IRS Publication 590-B. You know that the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act gives you the framework to name someone you trust to speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself.

That knowledge is the foundation. The next step is execution.

Fidelis Estate exists for exactly this moment — the moment you know what needs to be done and you're ready to stop putting it off. A professional from Fidelis Estate will walk alongside you through every document, every designation, and every decision. AI-assisted tracking means nothing falls through the cracks — no missed beneficiary update, no unsigned form, no filing deadline overlooked. You bring your life. Fidelis Estate brings the expertise and the system.

Starting your plan takes one step. Go to Fidelis dot solutions slash intake. The URL in your description is https://www.fidelis.solutions/intake. Fill out the intake form, and a Fidelis Estate professional will reach out to walk you through your personalized roadmap — from your first will to your beneficiary review to your healthcare proxy, in the right order, at a pace that works for you.

You don't have to be wealthy to protect what you've built. You don't have to be sixty-five to think about who you love. You just have to take the first step today, before the next life event makes the decision for you.

Fidelis dot solutions slash intake. Your plan starts there.