The One Estate Planning Myth That Costs Homeowners the Most
My good friend's mother created a will and named my friend her executor. She owned a modest home valued at $900,000 and other assets that brought her estate to $1.5 million. When she died a few years ago, her estate was forced into probate. Assets were frozen for 18 months. Her step-siblings fought her the entire time, while she was trying to grieve the loss, and the probate fees cost her family $75,000. To this day the family is estranged. Her mother thought she had done the right thing by creating a will. Instead her family fractured, and it cost them $75,000 from the inheritance she thought she was leaving.
The Math Behind Make a Will Month
August is National Make a Will Month, and the timing matters more than most people realize. According to Caring.com's 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, only 24 percent of Americans have a will. Roughly three out of four people have nothing in writing at all.
That statistic gets repeated every August as a call to action, and it should be. But a will is only a part of a comprehensive estate plan. Most people stop there. If you own a home, stopping there is where the real problem starts.
Why “I Have a Will” Feels Like Enough
I spent years in Big Law drafting agreements for Fortune 500 companies before I ever touched an estate plan. I learned early that a document can exist, seem like it covers everything, and still fail to do the one thing it was supposed to do. A will works the same way. People fill one out, feel the relief of having “done it,” and stop thinking about the rest.
They stop because they assume estate planning is for the wealthy. It isn't. They stop because they figure they'll get to the rest of it someday, and someday keeps not arriving. They stop because no one ever told them a will and a complete plan are very different things.
If You Own a Home, a Will Is Where Planning Starts
An online will template will not tell you this: a will does not keep your house out of probate. Probate is the public court process that settles an estate, and in California it routinely takes months, sometimes years. During that time, the house you own cannot simply pass to your family. It sits in a legal holding pattern while the court confirms the will, notifies creditors, and approves the transfer. If your heirs need to sell, they can't do so until the probate process ends.
A revocable living trust changes the picture entirely. When your home is titled in the name of your trust, it passes directly to the people you named, on your timeline, with no court involved. For most homeowners in Solvang, the Santa Ynez Valley, and the Central Coast, that single piece of paperwork, the deed transfer into a trust, is the difference between a family that grieves in peace and a family that spends 18 months in probate court while still trying to grieve.
What a Complete Plan Actually Covers
A will names who gets what after you die. A complete Life & Legacy Plan also covers what happens if you cannot make decisions for yourself while you are still alive. That means a durable power of attorney so someone you trust can manage your finances if you cannot. It means a health care directive so your medical wishes are followed and your family is not left guessing or fighting in a hospital hallway. If you have minor children, it means a Kids Protection Plan naming exactly who raises them and giving that person legal authority immediately, not weeks later after a judge who has never met your family decides for you.
It also means a real look at your assets. Beneficiary designations that were never updated after a marriage, a divorce, or a new grandchild. Accounts your family will not know to look for. A will cannot fix any of that. Only a full plan can.
What You Can Do This Month
Three out of four people have no plan at all, and most of the ones who do have stopped at a document that does not do what they think it does. If you own a home in California, a will alone will not keep your family out of court.
August gives you a clean reason to fix that. All it takes to get started is a free 15-minute Kickstart call with me, so we can determine exactly where you stand and what a complete plan would actually cover for your home and your family. Not someday. Today.
