You Made a Will. Here’s What It Can’t Do.
October 22, 2026
You did it.
Maybe Make-A-Will finally pushed estate planning to the top of your list. Maybe you had been meaning to take care of it for years, and this was finally the month you got it done.
Either way, you sat down, signed the documents, and completed something many families never get around to.
That matters.
But here is what I tell every client who comes to me after creating a will somewhere else: most people assume the job is finished. They sign the paperwork, put it away, and believe everything is handled.
Then something happens, and their family discovers how much the will did not actually cover.
If you have made a will, here is your checklist for what should come next.
First, Understand What You Actually Signed
A will is a legal document that tells a court what you want to happen to certain assets after your death.
That is its basic purpose.
A will does not automatically keep your family out of court. In many situations, property passing through a will still goes through probate, a public court process that can take months, involve significant fees, and limit access to assets while the process is underway.
A will also controls what is written in the document, not informal promises you may have made.
If you told someone they would receive your car, but that instruction does not appear in your will, that person may challenge the estate in court. Will contests can create extra expense, delays, and family conflict even when the challenge is unsuccessful.
A will also does not control assets that have their own beneficiary designations.
That may include retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and bank accounts with transfer-on-death designations. Those assets pass according to the names listed on the beneficiary forms, even if those forms were completed many years ago.
And a will does nothing if you become incapacitated instead of dying.
If an accident or illness leaves you unable to make decisions, your will does not become effective. Without other legal documents, your family may have to go to court before they can manage your finances or make medical decisions for you.
The bottom line is simple: a will is important, but it is not a complete estate plan.
Here is what you should review next.
Step 1: Your Beneficiary Designations May Already Be Overriding Your Will
Many people do not realize that a separate group of documents may already control who receives a large portion of their assets.
Those are beneficiary designation forms.
They operate independently from your will.
When there is a conflict between your will and a valid beneficiary designation, the beneficiary designation generally controls.
That means the name listed on the form can determine who receives the asset, regardless of what your will says.
Common problems include:
- A former spouse still listed on a retirement account
- A parent who has already died still named as beneficiary
- A minor child named directly, which may lead to court-supervised management of the inheritance until the child reaches the applicable age
Every retirement account, life insurance policy, and account with a transfer-on-death designation should be reviewed.
Each one should have a primary beneficiary and, when appropriate, a contingent beneficiary that reflects your family and wishes as they exist today.
The bottom line: your will does not control beneficiary designation forms.
Reviewing those forms is one of the first things I do with families during a Life & Legacy Planning® Session because this is one of the most common places an otherwise good plan can fail.
Step 2: Find Out Whether Your Trust Is Actually Funded
If you received a trust along with your will, ask one important question:
Are my assets actually in the trust?
A trust only controls assets that are properly connected to it.
Signing the trust document creates the legal structure. Transferring assets into that structure is called funding the trust, and it is a separate step.
Many families never complete it.
If your home, financial accounts or investment assets are still titled in your individual name rather than in the trust, they may still have to go through probate.
In my experience, unfunded trusts are one of the most common estate planning failures.
Families pay for a trust and believe everything is protected, but after death, loved ones discover that the assets were never actually transferred.
The trust is sitting safely in a folder.
The assets are not inside it.
If you are not sure whether your trust is funded, find out.
If it is not, addressing that should become a priority.
The bottom line: signing a trust is not enough. Funding must be done intentionally and often requires guidance.
Step 3: A Will Says Nothing About What Happens If You’re Incapacitated
A will becomes relevant after death.
But if you are alive and unable to make decisions for yourself, you need different legal tools.
At a minimum, a complete plan may include:
A Durable Power of Attorney
This gives someone you trust legal authority to manage financial matters if you become incapacitated.
A Healthcare Directive
Also called a living will or advance directive in some states, this explains your wishes regarding medical care if you cannot communicate.
A Healthcare Proxy or Medical Power of Attorney
This names the person you want to make medical decisions on your behalf.
A HIPAA Authorization
This allows the people you choose to receive information from your healthcare providers.
Without proper authorization, even a spouse or close family member may have difficulty getting information from a hospital.
If you made a will and nothing else, you have addressed what happens after your death.
You have not fully addressed what happens if you become incapacitated.
For many families, incapacity can be just as disruptive, or even more disruptive, than death.
The bottom line: a will is only one part of a complete plan. Incapacity documents are just as important.
Step 4: Know Who Reviews This With You Going Forward
Your life will change.
Your estate plan needs to change with it.
When I work with clients through a Life & Legacy Planning® relationship, we review their planning at least every three years.
That can include:
- Rechecking beneficiary designations
- Confirming that new property or accounts have been properly coordinated with the trust
- Reviewing the guardians chosen for minor children
- Confirming that agents named in financial and healthcare documents are still appropriate
- Making sure the entire plan still reflects the client’s current life
This matters because many estate planning problems are not caused by poor planning on day one.
They happen because a good plan was never updated.
A divorce, new child, move to another state, major financial change, or death of a beneficiary can quietly create problems in documents that were completely appropriate when they were first signed.
Phoenix Law stays connected with your family as life changes.
The bottom line: a plan that is reviewed has a much better chance of working when your family needs it.
A plan signed once and forgotten may eventually fail.
Why the Platform You Used Isn't Enough
If you created your will through an online platform or worked with an attorney who simply handed over the documents and moved on, I am genuinely glad you took that first step.
Something is better than nothing.
But an online platform usually does not review your beneficiary designations.
It may not confirm whether your trust has been properly funded.
It may not fully address healthcare planning, powers of attorney, or incapacity.
It also does not stay involved as your family, assets, and circumstances change.
And perhaps most importantly, a platform cannot truly counsel you about who should serve in important roles.
AI can explain what a successor trustee is.
But choosing the right person requires more than a definition.
What happens when a young adult beneficiary asks the trustee for $500,000 to buy a Lamborghini?
What happens if the person you named as trustee is an elderly parent who may not be available decades from now?
What happens if the person named as your healthcare agent cannot emotionally handle difficult medical decisions?
Those choices matter enormously.
A platform can generate a document.
A lawyer helps you understand who should be named, what authority you are giving them, and how those choices could affect your family in real life.
When I meet with clients for a Life & Legacy Planning Session, I look at the entire picture: what you own, who you want to protect, the situations your family may face, and which legal tools actually address those situations.
The goal is not to give you a folder filled with signed documents.
The goal is to create a plan that works the way you intended when your family needs it most.
The bottom line: online tools can help produce documents, but they cannot replace the counseling and ongoing review that make a plan work for your specific family.
Life & Legacy Planning® Sessions: What to Do Before It's Too Late
If you made a will, you already took an important step.
Now make sure the rest of the plan is complete.
At Phoenix Law, we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session where we review what you currently have in place and identify what may still be missing.
Most families leave the Session more financially organized than they have ever been, with a clear understanding of what is already working and what needs attention next.
To learn more about how we can assist you and your loved ones, schedule a FREE discovery intake call using our online form, or call 501-300-7526 (PLAN) to schedule your FREE discovery intake call.
This article is a service of Phoenix Law, your trusted Arkansas Life & Legacy Planning and Arkansas estate planning attorneys in Sherwood, Arkansas. We do more than draft documents. We help you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death for yourself and the people you love. That is why we offer a Life and Legacy Planning Session, during which you can become more financially organized than ever before and make the best possible choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Life and Legacy Planning Session.
This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you need legal advice specific to your circumstances, that advice must be obtained separately from this educational material.
