Why spring is the best time to finally design your estate plan

If you don’t have an estate plan, Georgia will choose one for you. The best time to change that is before summer travel season, when the stakes feel especially real. Estate planning is simpler and faster than you think; most people leave their first meeting wondering why they waited so long.

You’ve been meaning to do this for years, but this spring is different. 

“I’ll do it someday.” This is the most common thing I hear from people who don’t yet have an estate plan. They know they need one, but it doesn’t feel important today. They’ll do it when things slow down, after the holidays, once the kids are a little older, when life feels less chaotic. 

The problem with “someday” is that it never feels urgent enough to become today—at least, until something happens that makes it impossible to ignore.

But remember: an estate plan is not something you design for yourself. It’s for the people who will need to deal with the aftermath if something happens to you, like your parents trying to make a medical decision on your behalf or your children needing a legal guardian to raise them.

Summer travel season is a natural deadline, which makes spring the perfect time to plan. Before you book that flight, rent that car, or pack for that road trip, here’s what you need to know (and how to get it done faster than you think).

If you don’t have an estate plan, Georgia will make one for you

When someone dies without a will in Georgia, the state’s intestate succession laws determine who inherits everything. These rules follow a fixed legal hierarchy (spouse, children, parents, siblings) that may or may not reflect what you’d actually want.

Here’s what that can look like in practice:

Your situation	What Georgia’s default rules do
Married with children	Assets split between spouse and children. Your spouse will not inherit everything
Unmarried with a long-term partner	Your partner inherits nothing under intestate law
Single with no children	Assets go to parents, then siblings, regardless of your actual relationships
Minor children, no guardian named (for physical care) or trustee (for assets)	A court appoints a guardian and conservator without input from you

And that’s just after death. Without a financial power of attorney or advance directive, if you’re alive but incapacitated, a court may have to appoint a conservator or guardian to make decisions on your behalf. That process is slow, expensive, and public.

How long does it actually take to create an estate plan?

The most common reason people put off estate planning is time. Life is busy, and estate planning doesn’t feel urgent on a Tuesday when everyone is healthy and the calendar is full. It’s easy to file it under the mental category of “important but not urgent” and leave it there indefinitely.

But the idea that estate planning takes a long time simply isn’t true. The Design Meeting (the conversation where I design your estate plan with you) typically takes about an hour. The intake form you fill out beforehand takes maybe 20 minutes to complete. From that first meeting to a signed, complete estate plan, the entire timeline is usually just a few weeks, and your estate planning attorney handles most of the work.

The most common reaction I get after the Design Meeting is relief, because the process was so much simpler than expected. I walk you through every decision in plain language, because I want you to feel that sense of lightness when you’ve finally done the thing that’s been lurking on your to-do list for years. 

What does a complete estate plan include?

If you’ve been putting off estate planning because you’re not sure where to start or exactly what an estate plan looks like, here’s a plain-language breakdown of the documents most people need:

Document	What it does	When it matters
Will	Directs who gets your assets and names guardian for minor children	At death
Revocable living trust	Avoids probate; controls how and when assets are distributed	At death or incapacity
Financial power of attorney	Names someone to manage finances if you’re incapacitated	During incapacity
Advance directive	Records medical wishes and names healthcare decision-maker	During incapacity
HIPAA authorization	Allows named people to access your medical records	During illness or incapacity
Funeral directive	Records burial and service wishes; names funeral agent	Immediately after death

Not everyone needs every document, and not everyone needs a trust. What you need depends on your goals, your family, and what you’ve built. I’ll determine exactly what you need during the Design Meeting, before I draft a single document.

How the Estate Design process works at Siedentopf Law

Most people imagine estate planning as a stressful, jargon-filled process that requires knowing all the answers before you walk in the door. Our Estate Design process is the exact opposite. We start with your goals (the full picture of what you want your plan to accomplish) and build every part of your plan backward from there. 

Here’s what the process actually looks like:

Step 1: The intake form 

Before your first meeting, you’ll fill out a simple form covering the basics: your family situation, your assets, and the names of people you’re considering for key roles. There are no wrong answers, and you don’t need to have everything figured out. If you need to leave a few things blank, that’s okay—I’ll help you work through it when we meet.

Step 2: The Design Meeting 

This meeting is a guided conversation where we review your intake form. I’ll explain your options in plain language, ask some clarifying questions, and help you make decisions you feel good about. Our Design Meetings take about an hour; most clients leave surprised by how straightforward the process is.

Step 3: Signing 

After we meet, I draft every document your plan requires. You’ll have time to review them all and ask questions before signing in person with witnesses and a notary. You leave with a complete, signed estate plan, plus a One-Page Plan summarizing exactly how everything works and what your family should do when the time comes.

That one-page document matters more than people realize. It’s written in plain language, not legalese. It tells your family who to call, what documents exist, and what should happen next. This is the difference between a plan that sits in a drawer and a plan that actually gets used.

What to gather before your first meeting

The bar here is lower than you think. Here’s a list of things that are helpful to have ready, but none of it is required (you can always get it later): 

• Basic family information: names, dates of birth, relationships
• A rough list of significant assets: property, accounts, retirement funds, business interests
• Names of people you’d consider for key roles: executor, guardian, POA agent
• Any existing estate planning documents
• A general sense of your wishes, even if it’s only a starting point

And I can’t stress this enough: You do not need to arrive with any final decisions made. Helping you make them is exactly what the Design Meeting is for.

Already have an estate plan? Here’s your spring cleaning checklist

If you already have an estate plan, that’s great! Spring is a great time to make sure it still reflects your life.

Run through this checklist:

• Can you name every person currently listed in your documents: executor, trustee, guardian, POA, and funeral agent?
• Are all of those people still healthy enough to serve, still willing, and still the right choice?
• Have you gotten married, divorced, had a child, or lost someone named in your plan since it was drafted?
• Have you acquired significant new assets, such as real estate, a business, or an inheritance?
• Do your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance still reflect your wishes? (These will supersede what’s written in your will.)
• If you have a trust, are your assets actually titled in the trust’s name?
• Do you have a One-Page Plan, or a clear record of where your documents are stored and what they say?

If you answered “I’m not sure” to one or more of these, it’s time to revisit your plan. An outdated plan can create as many problems as no plan at all. As a quick rule of thumb: you should review your estate plan every three to five years, or after any major life event, whichever comes first.

Frequently asked questions from first-time estate planning clients

Do I need an estate plan if I’m young and healthy? 

Yes, and not primarily because of death. An estate plan also covers what happens if you’re alive but incapacitated. A serious accident can happen at any age, and without a power of attorney or advance directive, your family may have no legal authority to help you.

Do I need an estate plan if I don’t own very much? 

If you have a bank account, a car, any personal belongings, or anyone who depends on you (including a pet), yes. Estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy. It’s about making sure your wishes are honored if you aren’t there to express them.

How long does it take to create an estate plan in Georgia? 

At Siedentopf Law, most clients complete their plan within a few weeks from the Design Meeting to signing. The meeting itself typically takes about an hour.

How much does an estate plan cost in Georgia? 

It depends on what your plan includes. Siedentopf Law publishes flat-fee pricing for all our packages, so you’re never surprised by hidden fees. 

What if I don’t know who to name as my executor or guardian? 

You’re in luck—that’s exactly the kind of decision the Design Meeting is built to help you work through. You don’t need to have all the answers before you arrive. 

Is an online will good enough? 

Online tools can produce a basic document, but they can’t account for your specific family circumstances or the way your complete plan should function as a whole. A will that has a gap in the wrong place can create serious problems for your family, and you may never know the gap is there until it’s too late.

What if my situation is complicated (blended family, small business ownership, property in multiple states)? 

Complicated situations are where the Estate Design process matters most. A custom-built plan accounts for the details that a template can’t. The more complex your situation, the more important it is to work with an experienced attorney who starts with your specific goals rather than a standard form.

Make this the year you stop saying “someday”

Estate planning is a lot like exercise; the hardest part is just getting started. Once you’re in the Design Meeting, you’ll probably find that the thing you’ve been dreading for years only takes a few hours and leaves you feeling more prepared and at peace than you’ve felt in a long time.

Before you book your summer travel, book a strategy session. Making the time to put a plan together now means you can enjoy your vacation, stress-free.