Texas Estate Planning Basics: The 5 Documents Everyone Needs

Estate planning is not just for wealthy people. It is for anyone who has assets they care about, people they want to protect, or preferences about their own medical care. In Texas, a basic estate plan can be put together for a few hundred dollars. Dying without one can cost your family far more — in money, time, and conflict.

This guide covers the five documents every adult in Texas should have, what happens without them, and how to decide whether to hire an attorney or use a self-help option.

Why Estate Planning Matters

An estate plan is a set of legal documents that answer three questions:

Who gets your stuff? (Your will and beneficiary designations)
Who makes decisions if you can't? (Your powers of attorney and healthcare directive)
Who raises your children? (Your will, for minor guardianship nominations)

Without these documents, Texas law answers those questions for you — and the answers may not be what you would choose. Courts appoint administrators for intestate estates, guardians for minor children, and conservators for incapacitated adults, all following a statutory formula that does not account for your personal relationships or wishes.

The 5 Core Documents

1. A Valid Texas Will

Your will is the foundational document of your estate plan. It tells the court and your family:

Who inherits your assets after debts are paid
Who serves as executor to manage and close your estate
Who becomes guardian of your minor children if you die while they are still young

Without a will, Texas intestate succession laws determine who inherits. The outcome is often not what the deceased person would have wanted — especially in blended families, domestic partnerships, or situations where an adult child has special needs or financial problems.

For a will to be valid in Texas, it must be either a formal attested will (typed, signed in front of two witnesses) or a holographic will (entirely handwritten and signed, with no witnesses required). See our Texas will requirements guide for the rules.

What a will does NOT do: A will does not control assets that pass by beneficiary designation (life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s) or by right of survivorship (joint accounts, community property with survivorship agreements). Those assets go to the named beneficiary regardless of what the will says.

2. Statutory Durable Power of Attorney (Financial)

A financial power of attorney authorizes someone — your "agent" — to manage your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. This includes paying bills, managing investments, filing tax returns, handling real estate transactions, and dealing with banks and government agencies on your behalf.

Texas uses a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney form under Texas Estates Code § 752.051. "Durable" means the authority continues even if you become incapacitated — which is the whole point.

Without this document, if you become unable to manage your finances, your family would need to go to court to be appointed your legal guardian. That process is expensive, time-consuming, and public.

Your agent has significant power. Choose someone you trust completely, and consider naming a backup (successor agent) in case your first choice is unavailable.

See our Texas Power of Attorney guide for the full requirements and rules.

3. Medical Power of Attorney

A medical power of attorney authorizes someone to make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to make or communicate them yourself. This is different from a financial POA — it covers only medical decisions.

Your medical agent can consent to or refuse treatments, choose among care options, and direct your care according to your known wishes. Without this document, Texas Health & Safety Code § 166.039 sets out a priority list of who can make decisions for an incapacitated patient — and the person you would choose may not be first on that list, especially if you are unmarried.

Your agent under a medical POA does not have authority when you are conscious and capable of deciding for yourself. The authority activates only when your treating physician determines you lack decision-making capacity.

See our Texas Healthcare Directive guide for more on how medical decision-making works in Texas.

4. Directive to Physicians (Living Will / Advance Directive)

A directive to physicians — sometimes called a living will or advance directive — records your personal wishes about end-of-life medical care. Unlike the medical POA (which appoints someone to decide), this document records your own instructions directly: whether you want life-sustaining treatment prolonged if you have a terminal or irreversible condition, whether you want artificial nutrition and hydration, and whether you want comfort care only.

Texas recognizes this document under Texas Health & Safety Code § 166.032. It can stand alone or be combined with a medical POA in a single advance healthcare directive document.

This is a deeply personal document. There is no right answer — only your answer. The goal is to relieve your family of the burden of guessing what you would have wanted in a moment of enormous stress.

5. HIPAA Authorization

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) restricts who healthcare providers can share your medical information with. Without a signed HIPAA authorization naming specific individuals, even a close family member or your named medical agent may have difficulty getting information from doctors or hospitals during a medical emergency.

A HIPAA release is a short document — often just a page — that names the people permitted to receive your health information. Include it with your other estate planning documents.

Beneficiary Designations: The Documents You're Probably Forgetting

A significant portion of most people's wealth passes completely outside their will through beneficiary designations. This includes:

Life insurance death benefits
Retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension)
Bank accounts with a payable-on-death (POD) designation
Investment accounts with a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation

These assets go directly to the named beneficiary, bypassing probate entirely. That is usually good — it is fast and avoids court. But it creates problems when:

The named beneficiary is deceased (the designation may become invalid)
The named beneficiary is a minor (they cannot legally receive funds directly; a custodian or trust is needed)
The designation conflicts with your will (the designation wins)
You never updated the designation after a divorce, remarriage, or death in the family

Review every beneficiary designation when you create or update your estate plan, and any time a major life event occurs.

What Happens Without a Will

If you die without a will in Texas, state law — not your wishes — controls who inherits. The intestate succession rules under Texas Estates Code Chapter 201 can produce results that surprise families:

A surviving spouse does not automatically inherit everything. It depends on whether there are children, and whether those children are also the spouse's children.
An unmarried partner inherits nothing, regardless of how long you were together.
Estranged relatives may inherit while close friends and stepchildren inherit nothing.
Without a named guardian in a will, the court appoints one for minor children — a process that can be contentious and expensive.

The cost of making a will is a fraction of the cost of dying without one.

Choosing Your Executor, Agent, and Guardian

Executor: The person who manages your estate after death. They will file court documents, notify creditors, pay debts, and distribute assets. Choose someone organized, responsible, and capable of handling financial matters. Geographic proximity helps but is not required. Name a backup (alternate executor).

Financial agent (POA): The person who handles your finances if you are alive but incapacitated. This is often a spouse or adult child. Choose someone with good judgment and absolute trustworthiness — the power is broad.

Medical agent: The person who speaks for you on healthcare decisions. This is often a spouse, but some people prefer an adult child who can remain calm under pressure or who is more aligned with their medical values.

Guardian for minor children: This may be the most important nomination in your will. Consider who shares your values, has the capacity to raise children, and would be willing to serve. Have the conversation with the person before naming them.

When to Update Your Estate Plan

An estate plan is not a one-time exercise. Review and update it when:

You marry or divorce
You have a child (biological, adopted, or step)
A named beneficiary, executor, agent, or guardian dies or becomes unable to serve
You experience a major change in assets (buy a home, start a business, receive an inheritance)
You move to or from Texas (community property rules differ by state)
Tax laws change significantly
Your relationships change significantly

A general review every 3–5 years is good practice even if no specific event has occurred.

Cost of Estate Planning vs. Cost of No Planning

A basic Texas estate plan — will, financial POA, medical POA, advance directive, and HIPAA release — typically costs $500–$1,500 when prepared by a Texas estate planning attorney, depending on complexity and location.

Compare that to the cost of a contested intestate estate, a guardianship proceeding for an incapacitated adult, or a dispute over who gets the house. Those proceedings can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars and take years to resolve.

DIY vs. Attorney: When Each Makes Sense

DIY may work when:

Your estate is simple (a house, a few accounts, no business interests)
Your family situation is uncomplicated (no blended families, no estrangements)
The beneficiaries and amounts are clear and uncontested
You are comfortable using a reputable legal document platform and understanding what you are signing

Hire a Texas estate planning attorney when:

You have minor children (guardianship and trust provisions for children are important to get right)
You own a business or have complex assets
You have a blended family or complicated family dynamics
Your estate may exceed the federal estate tax exemption
You want a revocable living trust to avoid probate entirely
You have previously given away large gifts, have special needs beneficiaries, or have other unusual circumstances

The cost difference between DIY and attorney-drafted documents is real but relatively modest. The cost of a mistake — a will that is not properly witnessed and is thrown out by the court, or a POA that a bank refuses to honor — can be much larger.

Related Guides

Sources:

"Texas Estates Code Chapter 201 — Intestate Succession," Texas Legislature, 2025, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ES/htm/ES.201.htm
"Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 166 — Advance Directives," Texas Legislature, 2025
"Texas Estates Code § 752.051 — Statutory Durable Power of Attorney," Texas Legislature, 2025

This guide provides general information about estate planning in Texas. Consult a qualified Texas estate planning attorney for advice specific to your situation.