Estate planning for single people

Estate planning for a single person starts from a different place. For a married person, the law and the paperwork both lean toward a spouse. When there isn't one, every name is a real choice, and the law's default list may surprise you.

That's good news in one way: nothing is decided for you unless you leave it blank. This page covers the documents to sign, how to choose a name for each role, and how to decide who receives what. For the full picture of the law's defaults, see who decides for you when you can't.

What happens by default if you're single

Here's what Washington law does when a single adult hasn't named anyone. Other states use their own lists.

Two details matter for single people. When a medical decision falls to a group, such as three siblings, all who are available must agree. And a partner you never married or registered with isn't on the medical list by that title.

For each list in full, see your legal next of kin, in order.

The documents a single person needs

The core set is the same four documents almost every plan uses. What changes is how carefully you choose the names in them.

1. A medical power of attorney. Names who speaks with your doctors and consents to treatment if you can't. It puts your choice ahead of the relatives on the default list.
2. A financial power of attorney. Names who pays bills and manages accounts while you're alive. In Washington it ends at incapacity unless it has durability wording (RCW 11.125.040).
3. A will. Names your executor and says who receives what. Washington requires two witnesses (RCW 11.12.020).
4. A revocable trust, if it fits. Names a trustee who can manage and hand out property without waiting on probate.

Many people add a health care directive that records their treatment wishes. Our guide to estate planning documents explains what each one does and how they fit together.

Do you need a trust?

Not always. A trust can let your trustee act without a court process, which helps if your executor lives far away.

For smaller estates, Washington has a shortcut. If the probate estate is $100,000 or less, a successor can collect personal property by affidavit after 40 days (RCW 11.62.010). Our page on will vs trust helps you decide.

How to choose a name for each role

Without a spouse as the automatic answer, it helps to think of each role as its own job. The best person for one may be wrong for another.

One person, with a backup

In Washington, if you name two agents together, they must act jointly unless the document says otherwise (RCW 11.125.110). That can slow things down when speed matters.

The same statute lets you name a successor. The successor acts only after the first person resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated or declines. So one name plus a backup is often simpler than two names side by side.

Friends, partners and siblings

A friend can serve in every role, with a few state limits. Our page on whether a friend can be your power of attorney covers what to ask first.

If you share your life with a partner you haven't married, naming them is the surest way to give them a say. Without documents, they may come last on the medical list or not appear at all.

If you'd rather not hand estate work to a brother or sister, see who should be your executor if you don't want to ask family.

Deciding who receives what

Without a will, Washington's list runs through parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, then grandparents and their descendants. It never reaches friends, godchildren or charities. If none of those relatives survive, the property can pass to the state.

A will lets you choose. So can the beneficiary forms on your accounts, which often carry more money than the will does.

• Retirement accounts. In Washington, IRAs and other accounts with a named beneficiary pass outside the will (RCW 11.02.005). Read each beneficiary line.
• Your house. Washington allows a transfer on death deed, which must be recorded before death (RCW 64.80.060). A trust is another way.
• Your belongings. A personal property memo can say who gets the quilt, the piano or the watercolors.

If you were once married

Washington automatically revokes will provisions for a former spouse after a divorce, unless the will says otherwise (RCW 11.12.051). A similar rule covers nonprobate assets, with exceptions (RCW 11.07.010).

Don't count on that rule. Update the documents and forms so they name who you'd choose now.

A typical case

Here is a typical case, a composite. Maria is 63, divorced 20 years ago, with a condo, a retirement account and a cat named Olive. Her parents have died; her two brothers live in Texas and Maine.

She names her friend Janet, who lives in her building, as her medical power of attorney, with her younger brother as backup. Her older brother, a retired accountant, becomes financial agent and executor. A trust company is named behind him.

Her will leaves gifts to her nieces, a share to Janet and something to the animal shelter. Olive's care is written in her care plan, with Janet first and a neighbor second.

When a professional fits

Some single people have a name ready for every role. Others have one good name and no backup, or friends who are all their own age.

A professional can fill a role, first or behind someone you love. A fiduciary is legally required to act in your interest and follow what you wrote.

Kinly is one example, pairing four state-specific documents with a trust company that can serve in any role. Our guide to choosing professional help compares the options.

Common questions

Do single people really need a will?

If you'd like anyone outside the law's list to receive something, yes. In Washington, the list for someone without a spouse or children runs through parents, siblings and more distant relatives. It never includes friends or charities.

Who inherits if I'm single and die without a will?

In Washington, your parents inherit first, then your siblings and their children, then grandparents and their descendants. If none survive, the property can pass to the state. Other states use similar but not identical lists.

Can I name different people for different roles?

Yes, and many single people do. A nearby friend may be the right medical power of attorney, while a sibling who's good with numbers handles money. Just name a backup for each.

Can I name my unmarried partner?

Yes. Naming your partner in a medical power of attorney, a financial power of attorney and your will is the clearest way to give them authority. Without those documents, Washington's default lists may leave them out.

Sources

• RCW 7.70.065: Informed consent, persons authorized to provide for patients who do not have capacity
• RCW 11.130: Uniform guardianship, conservatorship, and other protective arrangements act
• RCW 11.04.015: Descent and distribution
• RCW 11.28.120: Persons entitled to letters
• RCW 11.125.040: Durable power of attorney
• RCW 11.125.110: Coagents, successor agents
• RCW 11.12.020: Requisites of wills
• RCW 11.62.010: Small estate affidavit
• RCW 11.02.005: Definitions, including nonprobate assets
• RCW 64.80.060: Transfer on death deed requirements
• RCW 11.12.051: Dissolution of marriage, effect on will
• RCW 11.07.010: Nonprobate assets on dissolution