You Don't Need a Will to Start: You Need a List

Most people who put off estate planning aren't lazy. They're stuck on step one, and step one, in their head, is booking an appointment with a lawyer, picking an executor, and deciding who gets what. That's a lot to start with, so most people never start at all.

The actual first step is smaller and doesn't require a lawyer. It's a list: which bank, which insurance company, where the safe deposit box is, who the doctor is. None of that needs legal advice. It just needs someone to write it down.

A will matters, and it's worth getting one. But a will with no list still leaves your family guessing where to look. A list with no will yet still means they can find the accounts, the policies, and the documents that do exist right now, while the will gets sorted out later.

Starting with the list also makes the will easier. Once you sit down with an attorney, you already know what you own and where it lives, instead of trying to remember it all in the meeting.