BReviewing a packet of estate documents thicker than a bowl of oatmeal is an hours-long mini project that is rarely advisors’ cup of tea. And let’s not get started on wading through the legalese, either (ChatGPT nor Google are not the most reliable tools for helping). That’s why EncorEstate Plans’s industry-leading Support Team of estate planners and paralegals put together this guide to help you review client estate plans more quickly and accurately.

Here are the key components you should look for and review for accuracy in all of the documents that are part of every estate plan:

Power of Attorney (POA)

Every POA has three components you need to look at:

1. Who is the POA for (the principal aka your client)?
2. When does the POA go into effect? (e.g., when the principal, your client, becomes incapacitated)
3. What financial decisions can be made by the person entrusted to do so (the agent) on your client’s behalf?

Advance Health Care Directive

An advance health care directive tells health care providers who’s speaking for you (the principal) and making decisions on your behalf when you’re incapacitated (e.g., preferences on life support, organ donation, and funeral instructions). Advance health care directives typically consist of two parts: living wills (state clients’ wishes/choices for life-sustaining treatments and procedures) and durable power of attorney for health care (legal document that allows you to appoint an agent to make medical care decisions on your behalf if you’re not able to do so).

Similar to the three POA components above, you need to look at:

1. Who is the directive for (the principal aka your client)?
2. When does the directive go into effect? (e.g., when the principal, your client, becomes incapacitated)
3. What medical care decisions can be made by the health care agent/proxy on your client’s behalf?

More specifically, you’ll find these in the following sections:

Living Will

Instructions for:

• Life-sustaining treatments and procedures such as:
  • Artificial hydration and nutrition.
  • Resuscitation.
  • Prolonged life support.
• Palliative care and pain relief.
• When the living will goes into effect (e.g., when the client is incapacitated).

Durable Power of Attorney (POA) for Health Care

Durable power of attorney for health care specifies the legally appointed person who will make health care-related decisions on behalf of the principal (your client).

Instructions for:

• Who the legally appointed person is.
• What health care-related decisions on behalf of the principal are they permitted to make.
• When the heath care agent’s authority goes into effect (e.g., when principal becomes incapacitated).

Will

Almost all wills follow the same common structure with specific components. When you review wills, make sure you account for each of these clauses and sections:

• Declaration statement (confirmation that this is the last will and testament of the testator, the person who owns the will).
• Who’s the executor of the will (who’s carrying out the will’s instructions).
• Asset distribution and beneficiaries (who’s going to get what).
• Named guardians (if you have dependents).
• Signatures and attestations (key to ensuring the testator was of sound mind when signing the will).

Declaration/Opening/Introductory Statement

The declaration statement is the testator’s written statement attesting to the will being their official “last will and testament”. The declaration statement also specifies that this will is the only official, valid one, and that all previous wills and amendments are null.

Designation of Executor

The executor is the person named by the testator to carry out (or “execute”) the testator’s wishes and instructions. For example, in the event the testator passes away, the executor would pay off all of their debts and disburse funds to beneficiaries in accordance to the testator’s specifications.

Asset Distribution (Bequests) and Beneficiaries

Make sure your clients are crystal clear on which beneficiaries are named in the will, and what assets they are getting (e.g., family heirlooms, financial contributions). Also, check if there’s a residuary clause in place: it covers all remaining assets that are not specifically mentioned, and specifies who will get them.

Guardians (If You Have Dependents)

Guardianship ensures that dependents (e.g., minor children and adults who need special care) are cared for according to testators’ wishes.

Signatures and Attestations

Signature and witness attestation requirements vary depending on the state your client resides in. For example, California requires that a will is signed by the testator(s) and two witnesses who are not beneficiaries of the will (the two witnesses are needed to affirm that the testator(s) are of sound mind and not under any duress when they’re signing). At the very least, testators will need to sign their wills in order for it to be recognized as an executed legal document.

Revocable Living Trust (RLT)

With the exception of the will, a living trust encompasses all of the documents discussed above, in addition to the following documents that are found in almost all RLTs:

Certification/Certificate of Trust

The certification/certificate of trust is essentially a one-page summary of a trust that verifies the existence of a trust and proves trustees’ legal authority to act on behalf of the trust.

Certifications/certificates of trust provide key details of a trust at a glance:

• Legal name of trust.
• Date the trust was formed.
• Who the trustee(s) are.

Financial institutions and other organizations will often request a copy of the certification/certificate of trust in lieu of a copy of the whole trust in order to move forward with certain actions like re-titling checking accounts and disbursing funds from an estate.

HIPAA Release

HIPAA releases allow medical professionals to give information about your health care to people on your advance health care directive (among others) without violating privacy rights.

Pour Over Will

Pour over wills cover non-trust assets. More specifically, they give any non-trust assets to a trust, effectively pouring them over into the trust (hence the name “pour over” wills). Pour over wills also state who will be guardians of any minor children.

The Bottom Line

Once you know what to look for, reviewing estate documents in a will-based or trust-based estate plan is much more straightforward. If you’re pressed for time, you can request EncorEstate Plans’s Support Team to review your clients’ estate plans and provide visual summaries of the decisions your clients made.

Meet EncorEstate Plans: The #1 Estate Planning Software for RIAs

The 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech Survey rated EncorEstate Plans as the top estate planning software for RIAs based on market share. Here's why:

Estate Document Creation Flexibility and Customization

In theory, many mass affluent clients have the same (if not similar) needs when it comes to estate planning. But, being able to customize estate documents to adapt them to your clients' needs is crucial, especially when it comes to beneficiaries. One-size-fits-all estate document templates clearly don't fit all!

Human Review of Every Estate Plan Document

Encore's team of estate planners and paralegals takes five business days (using a 60-point review of every estate plan) to comb through each estate plan and ensure everything is correct and accurately reflects your clients' wishes.

EncorEstate will also answer any and all of your questions about estate planning and or your clients' plans over live chat, phone, and or email at no cost (we don't provide legal advice). Encore's unlimited human estate planner support to advisors is why we consistently score the highest advisor satisfaction ratings in industry surveys like Kitces.com AdvisorTech and Advisor Productivity Surveys, and T3/Inside Information Advisor Technology Survey.

And according to a Reddit user on the CFP sub-Reddit, Encore's "Support is unmatched":

Estate Plan Notarization

EncorEstate provides a one-click option in its software platform to request a mobile notary and witnesses to be sent to your client's house for estate document signing.

Trust Funding

EncorEstate's full-service deed prep and recording ensures your clients' trusts are properly funded with their real estate. Encore's Support Team of estate planners and paralegals will pull the last recorded deed, prepare the deed, and prepare all county-specific documents – even if you’re not an Encore customer.

You nor your clients need to go to the assessor's office and or hunt down various forms because Encore will do it all for you and your clients.

If you're evaluating estate planning software providers, get a book a conversation with EncorEstate.