Will or Trust? Simple Estate Plan - Plain-English steps to write your own estate plan, name beneficiaries, split things fairly among kids and step-relatives, and leave an if-I'm-gone folder your family can find #1012408

You have heard you should have a will. You have also heard you might need a trust, that beneficiary forms can override both, and that your family will be lost without your logins. Meanwhile the folder you meant to put together is still a to-do item, and you are not sure how to divide things fairly among your children, your step-children, or the relatives who matter to you. Will or Trust? Simple Estate Plan is a calm, plain-English guide for the person making the plan. It walks you through building a one-page map of what you own, understanding what a will, a living trust, and beneficiary designations each actually do, deciding what feels fair, and leaving a file your family can find and use. It is general education, hedged by state, not legal advice, and it is honest about where a do-it-yourself approach ends and an estate-planning attorney should take over. Unlike books for executors settling a loved one's estate, adult children arranging power of attorney for a parent, or heirs facing pressure to sign something, this one is written for you, the planner, while you can still decide. Inside, you'll learn: You do not need to do everything this weekend.