The Legal Documents Every Aging Parent Needs
Six documents decide who can pay the bills, talk to doctors, and carry out your parent's wishes. Here's what each one does and why timing matters.
The Legal Documents Every Aging Parent Needs
Six documents decide who can pay the bills, talk to doctors, and carry out your parent's wishes. Here's what each one does and why timing matters.
These Only Work If Your Parent Signs Them in Time
Your parent must understand what they're signing. After a stroke or advanced dementia, it may be too late.
What happens without them
If your parent can't make decisions and has no power of attorney, the family may have to ask a court to name a guardian or conservator.
That process takes time, costs money in court and attorney fees, and puts a judge in charge of choices your parent could have made.
The 6 Documents to Have in Place
Names and rules vary by state, but most families need all six.
Document 1
Financial power of attorney
Lets someone manage your parent's money, bills, and property.
Names
An agent and a backup agent
Look for
The word "durable," so it keeps working if your parent loses capacity
Document 2
Health care power of attorney
Lets someone make medical decisions when your parent can't.
Names
A health care agent and a backup
Look for
Clear authority to talk with doctors and choose care settings
Document 3
Living will
States your parent's wishes about life support and end-of-life care.
Names
No one. It speaks for your parent directly.
Look for
Wishes on feeding tubes, ventilators, and resuscitation
Names
No one. It speaks for your parent directly.
Look for
Wishes on feeding tubes, ventilators, and resuscitation
Names
An agent and a backup agent
Look for
The word "durable," so it keeps working if your parent loses capacity
Names
A health care agent and a backup
Look for
Clear authority to talk with doctors and choose care settings
Document 4
HIPAA authorization
Lets doctors share medical information with the people your parent names.
Names
Family members who need updates
Look for
Everyone who helps with care, not only the agent
Document 5
Will
Says who receives your parent's property and who handles the estate after death.
Names
An executor and the people who inherit
Look for
Property in the will usually goes through probate court
Document 6
Revocable living trust
Holds property during your parent's life and passes it on after death without probate.
Names
Family members who need updates
Look for
Everyone who helps with care, not only the agent
Names
An executor and the people who inherit
Look for
Property in the will usually goes through probate court
Names
A trustee and a successor trustee
Look for
Assets must be retitled into the trust to work
Medicaid Terms You'll Hear
Rules and dollar amounts change by state and year. These are the basics every family should know.
Will
Revocable living trust
Goes through probate
Yes, in most cases
No, for assets titled in the trust
Public record
Yes, once filed with the court
No, stays private
Helps if your parent loses capacity
No, a will only works after death
Yes, the successor trustee can step in
Setup work
Less
More, because assets must be retitled
Protects assets from Medicaid
No
No, a revocable trust does not
Not sure which one fits your family?
Take the Will vs. Trust quiz. Answer a few questions and see which option matches your situation.
6 Mistakes Families Make With These Documents
✖ No backup agent
If the only agent is sick, busy, or has died, the document can't be used.
✖ No one can find them
Keep the originals in one known place and give copies to the agents.
✖ A power of attorney that isn't durable
It can stop working at the exact moment the family needs it.
✖ Outdated beneficiaries
Life insurance and retirement accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by the will.
✖ A trust with nothing in it
A trust only controls the assets retitled into its name.
✖ Documents from another state
If your parent moved, have the documents checked against the new state's rules.
Create Your Family's Documents Online
GetMyWillTrust.com is a self-guided platform that walks you through creating wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives at your own pace.
● Attorney-prepared document templates
● A guided process based on your answers
● Work at your own pace, from home
GetMyWillTrust.com is a self-help software tool, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. You represent yourself when you use it. For complex situations, talk with an attorney.
GetMyWillTrust.com
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Members get plain-language lessons on each document, a checklist of where to keep them, and a live Q&A with Sara every month.
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Questions About Legal Documents
What happens if my parent has no estate plan?
State law decides who gets your parent's property. That can leave out people your parent meant to include, add delays and costs, and put decisions in a court's hands.
What is probate?
Probate is the court process that validates a will and distributes property after death. It is public and can take more than a year. Costs often run 3% to 8% of the estate.
Does a revocable living trust protect assets from nursing home costs?
No. Medicaid counts assets in a revocable trust because your parent still controls them. Protecting assets from long-term care costs takes different planning with an elder law attorney.
What does it mean to fund a trust?
It means moving assets into the trust's name, like retitling bank and brokerage accounts or signing a deed for the home. A trust with nothing in it can't control anything.
What is a pour-over will?
A will that works with a trust. It sends any property left outside the trust into the trust at death, so everything follows the same plan.
Can the documents be changed later?
Yes. Review them every 3 to 5 years, and after any big change like a death, divorce, move to a new state, or a large change in assets.
Is the online platform the same as hiring an attorney?
No. It's a self-help software tool with attorney-prepared templates. You make the choices and represent yourself. For complex situations, talk with an attorney.
Not Sure Which Documents Your Parent Has?
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