This is a morbid but useful readiness check: if you were gone tomorrow, would the people you care about find a plan or a mess? It walks through the pieces that decide that answer — whether you have a will, whether your beneficiaries are current, and whether anyone knows your wishes for medical and end-of-life decisions.
Your answers map onto the core building blocks of estate readiness — a valid will, up-to-date beneficiary designations, and directives that speak for you when you cannot — and are pooled into a qualitative preparedness band. It does not grade the contents of your plan; it flags which building blocks are missing, because a missing block is where families get stuck.
A high band means the essentials exist and someone could actually find and act on them. A low band means the state's default rules, not you, would be making the calls. That gap matters more than most people assume: roughly two in three American adults have no will, which means the law of their state decides who gets what.
The fixes are famously boring and famously effective. Start with the single missing piece your result surfaced, tell one trusted person where your documents live, and read the estate planning basics so the vocabulary stops being intimidating. None of this requires wealth — just a couple of afternoons.
Your estate is distributed according to your state's intestacy laws rather than your own wishes. Since roughly two in three American adults have no will, this is a common outcome, and it often is not the one the person would have chosen.
Yes. Accounts like retirement plans and life insurance typically pass by their named beneficiary, which can override what your will says. Out-of-date designations are a frequent and avoidable source of trouble.
It is a document that records your wishes for medical care and names someone to speak for you if you cannot speak for yourself. It is part of readiness even though it has nothing to do with who inherits your things.
No. Estate readiness is about clarity, not net worth. A will, current beneficiaries, and a directive help almost everyone, regardless of what they own.
This is an educational self-assessment, not a diagnosis. It is not legal advice, and the rules vary by jurisdiction. Consult a qualified professional for your own situation.