Most estate planning failures don’t come from bad intentions. They come from assumptions. The assumption that your kids will get along. The assumption that a form you found online covers your situation. The assumption that you have more time.
These assumptions cost families tens of thousands of dollars. They create conflicts that destroy relationships. They leave grieving spouses unable to sell homes or access accounts.
This guide covers the most common estate planning mistakes we see, including several that surprise people who thought they had everything handled.
The Biggest Mistake: Having No Documents at All
No decision is still a decision.
If you have no estate planning documents, the state decides who gets your assets. The state decides the timing of distributions. The state decides who raises your children if both parents die.
You might agree with what the state would do. But you’ve removed any ability to customize based on your family’s actual circumstances.
An 18-year-old inherits hundreds of thousands of dollars outright with no oversight. A beneficiary with addiction issues receives a lump sum. A special needs family member gets disqualified from government benefits because they suddenly have too many assets.
The state’s plan doesn’t account for any of this.
The “I’m Too Young” Misconception
Estate planning doesn’t start at retirement. It starts at 18.
The moment you turn 18, no one has legal authority to make decisions on your behalf. Your parents cannot call the doctor’s office and get information. They cannot make medical appointments for you. They cannot make decisions if you’re incapacitated.
This hits home for families with college students. Your child has an accident away at school. The hospital calls. Someone brought them in. That person might be a roommate, a significant other they’ve dated for three weeks, or a stranger who found them.
You fly across the country. You arrive. The hospital asks who has authority to make medical decisions.
Without a power of attorney, the answer is unclear. If you and anyone else disagree on treatment, the hospital will not make decisions. They’ll tell you to get a court order. Meanwhile, your child waits in whatever state they’re in.
Why Powers of Attorney Matter More Than People Think
Two types of power of attorney exist: healthcare and financial. In Nevada, the healthcare power of attorney combines with a living will into one document.
The healthcare power of attorney does two things. It appoints someone to make medical decisions if you cannot. It also documents your wishes so that person knows what you would want.
That second part matters more than people realize.
Consider a real situation. A woman’s daughter was in a car accident and ended up in a coma. The mother said she always thought if she were in this position, she would never let her daughter sit on a ventilator. She would want her daughter to go peacefully.
Then she was actually in the position. And she didn’t want to let go. Her daughter was still there. Still warm. Still present in some way.
She knew it wasn’t what her daughter would have wanted. She knew what she herself would have wanted in that situation. But making that decision without documented instructions from her daughter was agonizing. That burden stays with you forever.
A power of attorney with clear instructions takes that weight off your family. They’re not guessing. They’re following your documented wishes.
The Timing Problem with Powers of Attorney
Here’s what most people don’t understand: once you think you need a power of attorney, it’s too late to get one.
If someone has lost capacity, if they’re in the hospital, if they’re in a coma, they cannot sign legal documents. They cannot grant anyone authority.
The power of attorney has to exist before the emergency. It has to be signed while you’re healthy and competent. Otherwise, your family is heading to court to get a guardianship, which takes months and costs thousands of dollars.
The Form-Filler Problem
Online estate planning tools can work. An attorney could use them and produce perfectly valid documents.
The problem isn’t the technology. The problem is that users don’t know what questions to ask.
Form fillers ask about your situation now. They ask who should inherit. They ask who should make decisions. They fill in the blanks based on your answers.
What they don’t ask:
• What if your beneficiary dies before you?
• What if your named trustee can’t act or refuses to act?
• What if your child develops an addiction?
• What if your child becomes disabled?
• What if you don’t like your child’s spouse?
• What if that spouse is the reason your child is losing money?
• What if the guardian you named gets divorced or loses custody of their own children?
When you’re young with young children, you picture everything going right. The kids are healthy. Relationships are good. Everyone gets along. Form fillers capture that moment.
Twenty years later, circumstances have changed. The document hasn’t.
Guardian Selection Mistakes
Parents name their sister and brother-in-law as guardians for their children. It makes sense. They’re married, stable, great with kids, and already have children the same age.
Then the sister and brother-in-law get divorced. The brother-in-law is out of the picture. The sister is now dating someone the parents don’t like.
The documents never specified that the guardianship depended on the sister being married to that specific person. The combination of both of them together was what made it work. The sister alone, especially with a new partner, isn’t the same situation.
Similar situations happen with single relatives. You want your brother and his wife to raise the kids because they’d grow up with other children. But if your brother becomes a single man, you might not want him raising your daughters alone.
Or the named guardians lose custody of their own children. Part of the reason you chose them was that your kids would be raised alongside cousins. Without that, the entire basis for your choice disappears.
These scenarios require planning. Form fillers don’t ask these questions.
The “My Kids Will Get Along” Fantasy
Almost every parent believes this. Their children get along. They would never fight over money or property.
The question isn’t whether your kids get along. The question is whether their influencers get along.
Spouses have different financial pressures. One child’s spouse might be pushing hard for “their share” of the inheritance while your child wants to be fair to siblings. Financial
stress in one household creates pressure to liquidate assets quickly. Another household wants to hold property for appreciation.
The most contentious probate disputes often involve personal property, not money. Ice cube trays. Magnet collections. Mattresses. Things worth nothing financially but carrying immense sentimental value.
One sibling took care of mom for years. They expect compensation or at least a larger share. Another sibling points out the caregiver lived rent-free. These arguments don’t get resolved by statute. They get resolved by family relationships being destroyed.
Failing to Update Documents
Creating documents once and forgetting them is nearly as bad as having no documents.
Review every one to two years. Check whether major life events have occurred: divorce, marriage, birth, death, disability, geographic moves.
People you named may have passed away. Relationships may have changed. Named trustees may now be unable or unwilling to act. They’ve started families, they’re dealing with their own health issues, they’ve moved across the country.
Powers of attorney especially need attention. Different states have different requirements. If you move, your out-of-state power of attorney may be difficult to use. Institutions are often hesitant to accept documents from other jurisdictions.
Nevada updates its power of attorney laws periodically. A document from ten years ago may still be technically valid but harder to use in practice.
The Trust That’s Never Funded
A trust is like a water bottle. You create the container. Then you have to put water in it.
Creating a trust but never titling assets in the trust’s name defeats the entire purpose. Your house isn’t in the trust? It goes through probate. Your bank accounts don’t name the trust as beneficiary? Probate.
Online programs rarely stress the importance of funding. People put in all their information, get their documents, and think they’re done. They paid $200 or $300 for something that won’t actually accomplish what they wanted.
Worse, families often don’t discover this until after someone has passed. The heirs bring in what they think is a complete estate plan. It’s not. Everything still goes through probate.
Why You Need a Will Even With a Trust
“I have a trust. Why do I need a will?”
This is one of the most common questions, and the answer surprises people.
A pourover will catches assets that weren’t in your trust. You might have forgotten to fund something. An asset might have been acquired right before you passed. A lawsuit might be pending that you didn’t even know about.
Without a pourover will, unfunded assets go by statute. They get distributed according to state law, not according to your trust provisions. That might mean assets going to people you specifically wanted to exclude.
With a pourover will, everything pours back into the trust. The trust provisions govern distribution. You still go through a short probate process for those specific assets, but at least they end up where you intended.
Many online programs don’t include pourover wills. Users think they don’t need one because they have a trust. They’re wrong.
Document Storage Mistakes
Where do people love to store important documents? Safety deposit boxes.
This creates a nightmare scenario. Your trust and will are in the safety deposit box. Your family knows you named a trustee. But the only proof of who that trustee is sits inside a box that requires court authorization to open.
You need the documents to get appointed. You need to be appointed to access the documents. Now you’re in court.
Home safes create similar problems. Does anyone know the combination? Does anyone know where it is?
Don’t distribute copies of documents either. If you change your estate plan and your brother still has an old power of attorney, institutions might accept that outdated document. He could potentially act on your behalf when you no longer want him to.
Better approach: tell people which attorney has your documents. If you change something, the attorney has records of the changes. If your brother calls claiming authority, the attorney knows he’s no longer named.
Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency
Digital assets can be included in a trust. The challenge is access.
With cryptocurrency, the password holder has everything. Lost the key? Lost the money. There’s no reset button. No customer service number to call. The assets exist but are permanently inaccessible.
You can name crypto in your trust and specify who receives it. But your beneficiary still needs the actual password to access it. That information has to be stored somewhere accessible but secure.
The same principle applies to all digital assets. Travel rewards, online accounts, email accounts containing important information. In the past, you could monitor someone’s
mail for a month or two and find all their accounts through statements. Everything’s electronic now. Your beneficiaries might not even know where to look.
Document what exists and how to access it. Without that information, assets effectively disappear.
Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Planning Mistakes
At what age should I start estate planning?
Age 18. Once you’re a legal adult, no one has automatic authority to make medical or financial decisions for you. Parents cannot access medical information or make healthcare decisions without a power of attorney document.
Do I need a trust if I’m not wealthy?
If you own a home, you likely need a trust. Nevada homes commonly range from $400,000-$500,000. Without a trust, that home goes through probate, costing $8,000-$9,000+ in statutory fees and taking six months or longer.
How often should I update my estate plan?
Review every one to two years or after major life events including marriage, divorce, births, deaths, disability, significant asset changes, or moving to a new state. Powers of attorney especially need updating when laws change or you relocate.
What’s the difference between a will and a trust?
A will goes through probate. It tells the court how to distribute your assets, but the court process still happens. A trust avoids probate entirely. Assets pass directly to beneficiaries through your successor trustee without court involvement.
Why do I need a will if I have a trust?
A pourover will catches assets not in your trust, including assets acquired shortly before death, forgotten accounts, or pending lawsuits. Without it, unfunded assets go by state statute rather than your trust provisions.
Can I create a valid estate plan online?
Online tools can produce valid documents, but users typically don’t know what questions to ask. Form fillers capture your current situation without addressing future scenarios like beneficiary death, trustee refusal to act, or changing family circumstances.
What is a power of attorney and when does it take effect?
A power of attorney grants someone authority to make decisions on your behalf. Healthcare powers cover medical decisions. Financial powers cover money and property. They must be created while you’re competent. Once you lose capacity, it’s too late to sign one.
What happens to cryptocurrency when someone dies?
Cryptocurrency can be included in estate planning documents, but access requires the actual password or key. Without that information, the assets are permanently inaccessible. Document what exists and ensure your beneficiary can actually access it.
Where should I store my estate planning documents?
Not in a safety deposit box, which requires court authorization to open after death. Avoid distributing copies that could become outdated. Tell trusted family members which attorney has your documents so they can access current versions.
What does it mean to fund a trust?
Funding means titling assets in the trust’s name. Creating a trust document is just the first step. You must then transfer property deeds, update account beneficiaries, and retitle assets so they’re actually owned by the trust. Unfunded trusts don’t avoid probate.
Key Takeaways
• Estate planning starts at 18, not retirement. Without powers of attorney, no one can make decisions for you in an emergency.
• Powers of attorney must exist before you need them. Once capacity is lost, it’s too late to sign one.
• Online form fillers miss critical questions about future scenarios: beneficiary death, trustee refusal, addiction, disability, and changing relationships.
• Review documents every one to two years or after major life events. People and circumstances change.
• Creating a trust isn’t enough. You must fund it by titling assets in the trust’s name. Unfunded trusts go through probate.
• Get a pourover will even with a trust. It catches forgotten or newly acquired assets and directs them to your trust.
• Document digital assets and access information. Without passwords and account details, cryptocurrency and online assets effectively disappear.
