By Mallika Mitra

Ross Natoli, a financial advisor at Joel Isaacson & Co, recommends young people consider estate planning -- and he has a personal reason for doing so. When his brother-in-law was 37 with a newly born baby, he was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer.

"He was a wonderful, incredible person and a very positive guy, but he was also the kind of person who lived for today -- he just always thought things would work themselves out," Natoli says. "Estate planning was just never top-of-mind for him, despite his diagnosis."

He died in 2021 at age 42 without a will, healthcare proxy, or beneficiary designations on his financial accounts. Everything had to be probated, so even his cash accounts weren't immediately accessible to his spouse to pay for his funeral and living costs for her and their daughter.

Natoli's brother-in-law wasn't alone. In 2025, Just 21.9% of millennials (ages 29 to 44) and 14.9% of adult Gen Z-ers (ages 19 to 28) have estate plans, according to Trust & Will.

A last will and testament determines what happens to your assets if you die, and is the best-known part of estate planning. But for many young people, a will isn't as important as other estate planning documents, such as an advance directive (or living will), which dictates who can make medical decisions for you if you cannot. People in their 20s and 30s are less likely to have dependents -- but they more often live on the edge. Studies show that young people are more likely to get into car accidents, get injured while skiing and take risks while traveling.

While it is important for younger generations to consider the possibility of death, it is also crucial that they consider the potential of disability and inability to make decisions for themselves, says Craig Parker, a trust and estate attorney at Trust & Will. Once you turn 18, you must give written consent for other people, including your parents, to access your medical records.

"If you don't want to burden your parents with stress -- or your loved ones or friends -- this is a really amazing gift," Parker says. "When you've written it down, they can say, 'I'm not making the decision, I'm honoring your decision.' That's a very different thing."

The next document this age group should focus on is a power of attorney, Parker says. A power of attorney gives someone else the legal right to make financial and medical decisions for you, including collecting your paycheck and paying your bills.

Another crucial step is to name beneficiaries on your accounts, such as a 401(k) or savings bank account, says David Haas, a financial advisor and owner of Cereus Financial Advisors. Doing so can bypass probate, which is the legal process of passing your assets to the right people.

"If [those accounts] are all you have, and you don't need to name someone to take care of your kids, just make sure you put 'transfer on death' on your accounts and add beneficiaries," Haas says.

For some young people, particularly those without dependents and with few assets, a will may not be necessary if you have covered the other basics: the advanced healthcare directive, durable power of attorney and beneficiary designations.

But once you have people (or pets) relying on you, a will can make sure they are taken care of should anything happen to you. A will can also ensure your assets are distributed as you see fit, like to a charity, Parker says.

Filling out these few forms, which you can often find free online, may be able to save your loved ones a lot of time and money.

"Nobody is invincible and anything can happen," Natoli says. "You don't want to be in a position where you should have done these things but then you don't have capacity to do them."

That was the case with Natoli's self-employed brother-in-law. By the time the couple spoke to an estate attorney and got the process moving, it was too late to get his estate planning in order: He was incapacitated in hospice care, and unable to sign documents.

"The lack of estate documents and beneficiary designations made an already horrible and tragic time even worse," Natoli says. "The estate situation was heartbreaking, and completely preventable."

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March 15, 2025 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT)

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