Document quick reference

Use this reference to understand the purpose of each document and prepare questions for the client’s attorney. It does not determine which documents a household needs. After a trust is signed, see the funding workflow.

Last Will and Testament

A Last Will and Testament directs how the testator’s probate assets are distributed at death and names a personal representative (executor) to administer the estate. It names primary and contingent beneficiaries and says where the rest of the estate goes. The will also handles guardian nomination for minor children, specific bequests of identifiable items, and the personal property memorandum reference (see below).

Questions for counsel include gifts involving children from different relationships, property in another jurisdiction and how fixed gifts should operate if the estate changes in value.

Revocable Living Trust

A revocable living trust is a separate legal entity that holds the grantor assets during life and distributes them at death without going through probate. The grantor is typically also the initial trustee and lifetime beneficiary, with successor trustees and remainder beneficiaries named for the grantor incapacity or death. A trust also sets out trustee succession and how and when distributions are made.

Joint versus separate trusts, blended-family distributions, business interests and agreements from a prior marriage require individual review. Once the client’s plan is settled, coordinate the relevant funding tasks.

Durable Financial Power of Attorney

A durable financial power of attorney appoints an agent to handle the principal financial affairs if the principal becomes incapacitated. "Durable" means the authority survives the principal incapacity, which is the entire point. A financial POA typically covers banking, real estate, tax filings, retirement accounts and government benefit applications. Some powers, such as making gifts, changing beneficiary designations or amending the principal’s trust, often have to be granted expressly.

Ask counsel about when authority begins, any limits on gifts or beneficiary changes, and powers needed for real-estate transactions. Institutions may require additional evidence before accepting an agent’s authority.

Healthcare Power of Attorney

A healthcare power of attorney appoints an agent to make medical decisions for the principal if the principal cannot communicate. A HIPAA authorization is a separate document the household can choose as well (see next section). The healthcare POA also captures end-of-life preferences (life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition, organ donation) so the agent has documented guidance during the hardest decisions.

Common edge cases: agents need to be physically reachable, so out-of-country agents are a real problem; clients should always name backup agents, because the primary may be on a plane or in surgery themselves when the moment arrives; religious preferences around end-of-life care should be captured in writing rather than left to the agent interpretation; preferences should address specific scenarios (persistent vegetative state, irreversible coma, terminal condition) so the agent is not left guessing.

HIPAA Authorization

A HIPAA authorization is a separate document from the healthcare POA but works with it. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a healthcare agent whose authority is in effect is generally treated as the patient's personal representative for the medical information relevant to that authority. A HIPAA authorization gives providers the patient's written permission to share information with the people it names, such as family members or a successor trustee, including before an agent's authority begins. In Bancroft, the HIPAA authorization is its own document. When both are used, they should be executed at the same time and copies should be distributed to the agents and to the client primary care physician.

For who has to accept each of these documents after signing (the probate court, the institutions holding trust assets, banks, physicians and records offices) and the factual questions to ask a household at review, see Five core estate planning documents, and who relies on each.

Check who is authorized to receive information, the stated purpose and the expiration date or event. Authority to receive information is distinct from authority to make healthcare decisions.

Personal Property Memorandum

A personal property memorandum is a separate document referenced by the will (and by some trusts) that distributes specific tangible personal property items to specific people. It exists because writing every fork, painting, and piece of jewelry into the will itself would make the will unwieldy and would require a new will every time the client decided to give the antique vase to a different niece. The memorandum is updateable without re-executing the will. In Bancroft, the memorandum is its own document and can be updated on its own.

Common edge cases: not all states recognize personal property memoranda equally (the rules vary by state); the memorandum can only distribute tangible personal property, not real estate or financial accounts; vague descriptions ("my jewelry to my daughters") create ambiguity that defeats the purpose, so specific pieces should be itemized; clients should sign and date every revision and tell the executor where to find the most current version.

Deeds

Deeds that transfer property at death rather than to a trust are paused and cannot be ordered at this time. To move real property into a trust, use the deed recording service.

Trust companion documents (Certification, Schedule of Trust Assets)

Financial institutions often ask for two short companion documents during the funding process. The Certification of Trust (sometimes called a Certificate of Trust or Trust Abstract) is a short summary of the trust that proves to a bank or brokerage that the trust exists, names the trustees, and grants them authority, without exposing the dispositive provisions of the trust to a third party. The Schedule of Trust Assets lists which assets the grantor intends to fund into the trust. In Bancroft, each is its own document; neither comes automatically with the trust.

Common edge cases: some institutions require a state-specific certification format (many states have statutory short forms); the Schedule of Trust Assets is a living document and should be updated as the household acquires new assets.

Trust changes

A signed trust is changed with Change trust. The platform makes the change as a short amendment where it can, and as a full restatement otherwise; the household can also choose a full restatement. A restatement replaces the text of the original while the trust keeps its original name, date and identity. Wills, POAs and healthcare documents are changed by a new document that revokes and replaces the prior one.

A trust drafted elsewhere uses the Trust Restatement document. See changing a trust for how it works.

Pricing: changes to a signed trust are free on every plan, always. No per-change fee. No cap. No tier restriction.

Requesting a document or state

The document library and the supported states keep expanding. Ask in a demo about what is next. If your firm needs a document type or a state that is not yet available, email support@usebancroft.com. Requests shape what we build next.