Estate Planning for Millennials: What You Actually Need in Your 30s and 40s
Estate planning for millennials isn't about being wealthy or thinking about death — it's about making sure the people you care about can access what you've built if something happens to you. According to Trust & Will's 2025 Estate Planning Report, 62% of millennials have no will or trust in place, even though 81% believe they should. That gap isn't apathy. It's mostly a sense that it doesn't apply yet.
It applies now. If you have a retirement account, a bank account, a lease, a pet, or a child — you have decisions that need to be made and documented. This guide covers what estate planning actually looks like for millennials: what's different for your generation, what documents you need, and how to get it done without a law degree.
In this guide:
Why millennials have unique estate planning needs
What counts as your "estate" in your 30s and 40s
The 5 documents every millennial needs
What to do about digital assets and online accounts
Crypto, subscriptions, and other millennial-specific complications
How to choose your people: executor, POA, guardian
How much does estate planning cost?
The fastest way to get started
Frequently asked questions
Why do millennials have unique estate planning needs?
Millennials face estate planning challenges that didn't exist for previous generations. Your financial life is more complex, more digital, and less traditional — and most estate planning tools were built for a different era.
The main differences: you're more likely to have significant digital assets (online accounts, crypto, streaming libraries, loyalty points), you may have student loan debt that affects how your estate is structured, you're more likely to be in an unmarried partnership, you may have stepchildren or a blended family, and you may have cryptocurrency holdings that require specific planning to survive your death.
There's also the practical reality that many millennials are now part of the "sandwich generation" — caring for both their own children and aging parents simultaneously. Trust & Will's 2024 study found that 39% of millennials have taken on this dual caregiver role, and 58% say it affects their ability to plan for the future. Ironically, that complexity is exactly why planning matters more, not less.
The average age when people actually create an estate plan is 42. The majority of respondents believe planning should start between ages 30–39. You're already in the window.
What counts as your "estate" in your 30s and 40s?
Your estate is everything you own — and it's almost certainly larger than you think. Any asset that has your name on it or that you've earned is part of your estate, and what happens to it when you die or become incapacitated is determined by your planning (or by state law if you haven't planned).
For the average millennial in 2026, that includes:
Retirement accounts — 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA. These don't pass through your will; they go directly to whoever you named as a beneficiary when you opened the account. If you named your parents when you were 24 and forgot about it, that's still the current designation.
Bank accounts — Checking, savings, money market accounts. If these don't have a payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary or a joint owner, they typically go through probate.
Investment accounts — Brokerage accounts, stock options, equity from an employer.
Real estate — If you own or co-own property.
Digital assets — Online accounts, subscriptions, digital media libraries, domain names, cloud-stored photos and documents. These are often worth more emotionally than financially.
Cryptocurrency — Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other holdings, which require specific planning because there's no "forgot my password" help desk.
Life insurance policies — The payout goes to your named beneficiary, not through your will.
Personal property — Cars, furniture, jewelry, collections.
One thing millennials often overlook: an unmarried partner has zero legal claim to any of this under most state laws. If you're not married and something happens to you, your partner could be left with nothing, even if you've been together for a decade and share a home.
What are the 5 estate planning documents every millennial needs?
Every adult needs five core documents: a will, a durable financial power of attorney, a healthcare directive, updated beneficiary designations, and — if you have significant assets or children — a trust. You need all five, not just one.
Here's what each one does:
1. A will. Your will directs who gets your property after you die, who takes care of your minor children, and who manages the process (your executor). Without a will, your state's intestacy laws decide — and they don't account for your actual relationships or wishes. A basic will costs $300–$500 through an online platform or simple attorney appointment.
2. A durable financial power of attorney (POA). This names someone to handle your finances if you become incapacitated — paying bills, managing accounts, filing taxes. "Durable" means it remains valid even if you can't make decisions. Without one, your family may need to go to court to get appointed as your guardian, which takes months and costs thousands.
3. A healthcare directive. Also called a living will or advance directive, this document tells medical providers what care you want if you can't communicate, and names a healthcare agent to make decisions on your behalf. If you've ever wondered what happens when someone ends up in the ICU without family knowing their wishes — this is what prevents that.
4. Updated beneficiary designations. This isn't a document you create once. Every retirement account and life insurance policy has a beneficiary designation on file. Review them now. A designation made at 23 overrides your current will — which means your ex-girlfriend, your estranged parent, or someone who died years ago could inherit your 401(k) if you haven't updated it.
5. A trust (if you need one). A revocable living trust helps your estate avoid probate, keeps your affairs private, and can provide more control over how assets are distributed. It's more useful if you own real estate, have children from multiple relationships, want to keep things out of court, or have assets in multiple states. Read our guide to will vs. trust for help deciding whether you need one.
For a complete overview of all six documents most adults need, see our guide to estate planning documents.
What should millennials do about digital assets and online accounts?
Digital estate planning is arguably the area where millennials are most behind — and where they have the most at stake. Your digital life is large, valuable, and invisible to your family unless you document it.
Digital assets for the average millennial include: email accounts (Google, Apple), social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok), cloud storage (Google Photos, iCloud, Dropbox), streaming subscriptions, financial apps (PayPal, Venmo, Robinhood), loyalty points and airline miles, and potentially domain names or income-generating online platforms.
The legal framework governing digital assets is the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) — a law adopted by 47 states as of 2025 that gives your executor certain rights to access your digital accounts. But RUFADAA is complicated, and many platforms require specific documentation or have their own processes. Google's Inactive Account Manager, Apple's Digital Legacy feature, and Facebook's legacy contact settings all need to be set up in advance.
The most practical thing you can do: document your digital accounts in a secure place your family can access. Your family doesn't need all your passwords today — they need to know what accounts exist and how to find the access information when they need it. Safe After Me organizes your digital accounts, credentials, and instructions in one encrypted vault that your designated people can access when the time comes.
What about cryptocurrency and other millennial-specific complications?
Crypto requires its own planning, separate from everything else. According to a 2025 analysis, 62% of millennials allocate at least a third of their wealth to cryptocurrency — and the planning challenges are significant.
Unlike a bank account, cryptocurrency has no customer service line for grieving families. If you hold crypto on an exchange (like Coinbase), there's a process for fiduciaries to access it, but it's complex. If you hold crypto in a hardware wallet or any self-custody arrangement, and no one knows your private key or seed phrase (typically 12–24 words), the assets are permanently inaccessible after your death. Permanently. As in: gone forever.
The IRS classifies crypto as property, so inherited cryptocurrency gets a stepped-up cost basis to the market value on the date of death. This is important for your heirs' future tax calculations.
What to document for crypto: the platforms or wallets you use, how to locate your holdings, and how to access them. Don't include your seed phrase in a document that sits in your email or an unsecured file. Keep it in a physical location and document where that location is.
Other millennial-specific issues:
Student loans. Federal student loans are discharged at death — your estate doesn't owe them. Private student loans may or may not be discharged depending on the lender. Your family should not pay private student loans from the estate until they've confirmed the discharge policy.
Unmarried partners. An unmarried partner is a legal stranger in most states without specific documentation. A will, beneficiary designations, joint ownership arrangements, and a healthcare directive that names your partner are all necessary if you want them protected.
Digital subscriptions. You can't bequeath a Netflix subscription. Most subscriptions are personal-use licenses that terminate at death. What matters is documenting that they exist so your family can cancel them and stop the charges.
Blended families and stepchildren. Stepchildren have no automatic inheritance rights in most states. If you want them included, you need to name them explicitly in your will or trust.
How do you choose your people: executor, power of attorney, guardian?
These three roles are the most important decisions in your estate plan. You're choosing people to act on your behalf when you can't.
Your executor manages your estate after you die: gathering assets, paying debts, filing taxes, and distributing property according to your will. This is a real job — typically 6–18 months of active work. Choose someone organized, reliable, and not likely to be overwhelmed by conflict with other family members. Nearly 1 in 4 millennials now prefer to name a trusted friend or professional rather than a family member, according to Trust & Will's 2025 report.
Your financial power of attorney agent has access to your bank accounts, can pay your bills, file your taxes, and manage your finances if you become incapacitated. This requires enormous trust. It can be the same person as your executor, but it doesn't have to be.
Your healthcare proxy makes medical decisions for you if you can't. They need to know your values and wishes well enough to make hard calls under pressure. Brief them on your healthcare directive — don't just name them and assume they know what you'd want.
Guardians for minor children. This is often the thing that finally motivates millennials to actually make a will. If you have children under 18 and both parents die, who raises them? Without a named guardian, a court decides. Name your first choice and a backup, and have an honest conversation with them before you put their names in a legal document.
How much does estate planning cost for millennials?
A basic estate plan for most millennials costs between $300 and $1,500, depending on complexity and whether you use an attorney or an online platform. This is dramatically less than people expect.
Online platforms can produce a legally valid will, financial POA, and healthcare directive for $200–$500. This works well for straightforward situations: you're married or single, have clear beneficiaries, no unusual assets, and no complex family dynamics. If you have a blended family, significant assets, real estate in multiple states, or a trust need, working with an estate planning attorney ($1,500–$5,000 for a complete plan) is worth the investment.
Updating beneficiary designations is free. You do it directly through your 401(k) administrator, IRA custodian, or life insurance provider. It takes 15 minutes and is one of the most impactful things you can do today.
Compare that to the cost of not planning: probate typically costs 3–7% of your estate's total value, and the average probate process takes 20 months according to Trust & Will's 2024 Probate Study. On a $400,000 estate, that's $12,000–$28,000 and nearly two years of your family's time and energy — all avoidable with a few hundred dollars of planning.
What's the fastest way for a millennial to get started with estate planning?
The fastest way to start is to do three things this week, in order of impact: (1) update your beneficiary designations on your 401(k) and any IRA or life insurance policies, (2) create a basic will and healthcare directive through an online platform, and (3) write down a list of your accounts and where your family would find access information.
That third step is where most people stop — and where Safe After Me picks up. Organizing your financial accounts, digital assets, legal documents, and important contacts in one place means your family won't have to piece together your life from bank statements and email inboxes. It takes about 20 minutes to set up, and it's the thing your family will actually need.
If you have children, an unmarried partner, or cryptocurrency, add an attorney consultation to that list. Those situations have enough complexity that a professional review is worth the cost.
Frequently asked questions }
Do millennials really need estate planning? Yes. If you have a bank account, retirement savings, digital accounts, or anyone who depends on you, estate planning applies to you. Without a will and beneficiary designations, your state's default laws decide who gets your assets — and those laws don't account for unmarried partners, stepchildren, or your actual wishes. 62% of millennials have no will or trust in place, according to Trust & Will's 2025 report.
What's the most important estate planning document for someone in their 30s? Updated beneficiary designations are the single highest-impact action you can take immediately — they're free and override everything else. After that, a will is the most important document for anyone with children, an unmarried partner, or property they care about directing to specific people.
Does a millennial need a trust, or is a will enough? For most millennials, a will is sufficient. A trust becomes more valuable if you own real estate, have children from multiple relationships, want to avoid probate, or have assets in multiple states. If you're married with no unusual assets and no children, a will plus updated beneficiary designations is enough.
What happens to student loans when a millennial dies? Federal student loans are discharged (cancelled) at death — your estate isn't responsible for them. Private student loans vary by lender; some discharge at death, others may attempt to collect from a co-signer or the estate. Your family should verify discharge terms with private lenders before paying anything from your estate.
What happens to crypto when you die without a plan? If you hold cryptocurrency in a self-custody wallet and no one has access to your private key or seed phrase, the assets are permanently inaccessible. No court order, no attorney, and no amount of effort can recover them. Document your holdings and how to access them in a secure place your designated person can find.
Do I need an attorney, or can I use an online platform? For a straightforward situation — you're single or married, have clear beneficiaries, no blended family complications — an online platform like Trust & Will or similar is a legitimate, legally valid option. If you have children from multiple relationships, a business interest, significant crypto holdings, or real estate in multiple states, an attorney consultation is worth the investment.
What should an unmarried millennial do differently? An unmarried partner has no legal inheritance rights in most states without specific documentation. At minimum, name your partner in your will, update all beneficiary designations to include them, and name them in your healthcare directive. Consider a financial power of attorney so they can manage your affairs if you're incapacitated. A domestic partnership agreement or cohabitation agreement may also be worth discussing with an attorney.
