Will

A will — formally called a "last will and testament" — is the foundational document of estate planning. Without one, a person dies "intestate," meaning state law determines how assets are distributed, which may not reflect the family's wishes at all. The person named to carry out the will's instructions is called the executor (or in some jurisdictions, the "personal representative"). Families must work with qualified attorneys to draft a will that is valid in their jurisdiction, as formality requirements vary.

A critical concept attached to wills is probate — the court-supervised legal process of validating the will, settling debts, and distributing assets. Probate is public, meaning the will and the estate's contents become part of the court record. It can also be time-consuming and, depending on the estate's complexity, costly. For this reason, families with significant wealth commonly use tools like revocable trusts to hold major assets outside the probate process, with the will acting as a backstop — sometimes called a "pour-over will" — that directs any remaining assets into the trust at death.

Even families with sophisticated family office legal structures still typically maintain a will as part of the overall plan. The will coordinates with other documents — trusts, beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies, and powers of attorney — to form an integrated estate plan. A family office's role is often to ensure all these documents remain current and consistent as family circumstances and the law evolve, a task that sits squarely within the organizational infrastructure that defines what a family office is.