How to Help Your Parents Get Their Estate Plan in Order (Without It Getting Weird)

May 4

Watch the playback here from our live event with our founder and estate planning attorney, Katie Katz: "Talk, Plan & Protect: How to Help Your Parents Get Ready for What's Next"

Around 80% of the work (often unpaid) that happens after someone passes away or becomes seriously ill falls on women. Closing accounts and canceling the dozens of subscriptions nobody knew about, transferring titles and assets, navigating probate (court), sitting on hold with insurance companies and Social Security, tracking down passwords and paperwork, sorting out the details of a financial and personal life — and often the physical work too, like cleaning out a home, packing up decades of belongings, deciding what to do with the photographs and the china, or helping someone move into assisted living. Most of it falls on women.

That means if your parents have not gotten their plan in place or it's really old, there is a good chance you will be the one who ends up managing a mess. And doing that without guidance, without documents, and without knowing where anything is can turn an already hard time into months of chaos.

The most practical thing you can do for your parents right now is help them get their plan in order. And the most important part of that is knowing how to start the conversation.

Here are three tips from Mitzi founder and trust and estates attorney Katie Katz.

This is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Estate planning laws vary by state. Mitzi is not a law firm. Please consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Tip 1: Lead with care, not with paperwork

Parents often resist these conversations not because they don't care, but because they don't want to feel like control is being taken away.

Starting with "we need to talk about your will" tends to put people on the defensive. A gentler way in: share that you have been getting your own plan in order and you are curious about theirs. Make it a mutual conversation, not an intervention.

Leave the numbers for later. Many parents get tense the moment estate planning starts feeling like a money conversation. They may not be ready to share account balances or who is getting what in a first sit-down, and that is okay. There is a lot to get through before any of the numbers need to come up: who they would want speaking for them at the hospital, where their important documents live, what they want their care to look like if something happens. Starting there can ease everyone into the topic without making money feel like the point.

It also helps to reframe what estate planning is for. Most people associate it with what happens after someone dies, and yes, it covers that. But the bigger purpose, and the one that surprises most people, is to protect them while they are alive. Who can speak on their behalf at a doctor's appointment? Who can help manage bills if they are recovering from surgery? Those are the questions most estate planning documents are designed to answer. That framing tends to feel less like end-of-life planning and more like a practical act of care.

Tip 2: Before you talk about documents, talk about the logistics

One of the most overlooked and most valuable conversations you can have with your parents has nothing to do with legal documents at all. It is simply: where is everything?

Where do they bank? Who is their doctor? Do they have a healthcare directive somewhere? Do they have an estate plan? Does anyone know where it is? When was the last time it was updated?

A simple shared list of accounts, important contacts, passwords, and key documents can save months of stress and confusion later. This step is genuinely underestimated. Families often find out too late: there were accounts no one knew about, a policy that had lapsed, a house titled differently than everyone assumed, or documents that existed somewhere but couldn't be located when it mattered.

Our Emergency Binder Checklist is a helpful starting point for this kind of inventory. Consider working through it with your parents or sharing it with them as a low-pressure first step.

Tip 3: Focus on the two documents most parents are missing

If your parents have done any estate planning at all, they may already have a will. But in many cases, that is not actually where the gap is.

The two documents that tend to be missing or outdated are the healthcare power of attorney and the financial power of attorney.

A healthcare power of attorney names the person who can make medical decisions if your parent is unable to communicate their wishes. A financial power of attorney names someone who can manage financial matters on their behalf if needed. Without these, even the most loving and capable family member may not be able to step in when it matters most.

And even if your parents do have these documents, it is worth checking two things: are the people named still the people they would choose? And are the documents filed where they need to be, with the right doctors and the right banks, and do you know where to find them?

Old documents with outdated contacts, or documents that exist but cannot be located, may not serve the intended purpose as reliably. The goal is for the right people to have access at the right time.

For more on how these documents work, see The Three Essential Estate Planning Documents and The Three Estate Planning Documents Every Woman and Family in Michigan Needs.

You do not have to figure this out alone

If your parents are open to it, and if they live in Michigan, Mitzi can guide them through creating a healthcare power of attorney and financial power of attorney online, at their own pace, without a law firm appointment. It is a concrete, manageable next step you can point them to after the conversation. Get started here.

Not in Michigan? Mitzi is expanding to all states soon, in the meantime take our Prepare To Plan quiz. You’ll get a personalized planning checklist and it will put you on our waitlist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does estate administration fall on women? Research consistently shows that women are more likely to outlive their partners and more likely to take on caregiving and administrative responsibilities in families. When an estate plan is not in place or out-of-date, the work of sorting through accounts, locating documents, and managing the process tends to default to a daughter, daughter-in-law, or other female family member. Having a clear, actionable plan in place is one of the most direct ways families can reduce that burden.

How do I start the conversation about estate planning with my parents? Estate planning conversations often go more smoothly when they start from a place of care rather than urgency. Sharing that you have been thinking about your own plan, and asking your parents about theirs, is generally a gentler entry point than raising the subject out of nowhere. Framing it around who can help them during a health event, rather than what happens after they are gone, also tends to feel less confrontational.

What documents are most commonly missing from a parent's estate plan? In many cases, the document people assume is missing, a will, may already exist. The gaps are more often in the healthcare power of attorney and the financial power of attorney. These documents name who can make decisions and help manage finances if a parent is incapacitated. They are also the documents most likely to be outdated, with named decision-makers who may no longer be the right choice. Two other commonly overlooked pieces are a HIPAA release and a living will (sometimes called an advance directive). A HIPAA release is generally what allows doctors and hospitals to share medical information with the people a parent has designated, which can matter enormously in moments when family members need access to information quickly. A living will is commonly used to spell out preferences around end-of-life medical care, so loved ones are not left guessing what a parent would have wanted.

What should I do if my parents already have an estate plan? If your parents have existing documents, it is generally worth checking whether the named decision-makers are still current, whether the documents are filed with the right institutions, and whether anyone in the family knows where to find them. Documents that exist but cannot be located or that name outdated contacts may not serve the intended purpose when needed.

What is an emergency binder and why does it matter? An emergency binder is a consolidated record of important accounts, contacts, documents, and information that a family member would need in a crisis or after a death. It is not a legal document, but it is often as valuable as one. Mitzi offers a free Emergency Binder Checklist at hellomitzi.com/emergency-binder-checklist.

Can Mitzi help my parents create estate planning documents in Michigan? Yes. If your parents live in Michigan, Mitzi can guide them through creating a healthcare power of attorney and financial power of attorney online, without a law firm appointment. Get started here.

Katie Katz