While it’s not required, it’s highly recommended that you review your estate plan with an attorney to ensure that it’s in compliance with applicable laws.
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What kind of estate planning professional do you need?
Did you know that 56% of Americans don’t have an estate plan, even though 73% say it’s important to have one?1
An estate plan—comprising a will, trust agreements, durable power of attorney, and healthcare directives—ensures that your wishes are honored and your loved ones are protected. Without one, critical decisions about your finances, healthcare, and legacy are left to state law and the courts rather than to you.
Let’s review the foundational elements of an estate plan and the team of professionals who can help ensure that all these parts are working together, for you and your family.
Key takeaways:
- An estate plan comprises a variety of documents, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives.
- A team of professionals can help ensure that all these parts are coordinated.
- Complex estates may need the help of additional experts, like a CPA or a trust officer.
The estate planning team: who does what
Your estate planning team isn’t just one professional—it’s made up of a group of experts who each specialize in a different aspect of your plan. Depending on your situation, you may have a financial advisor, estate planning attorney, and potentially others.
Financial advisor
Your financial advisor is the main point person coordinating your estate plan. Since they are already familiar with your short- and long-term financial goals, they can ensure that your estate plan is aligned with your overall financial plan.
A financial professional can also help you assign beneficiary designations, declare an executor, and find other experts for your estate planning team, like an attorney or tax expert.
Estate planning attorney
An estate planning attorney works directly with your financial advisor to draft and verify your legal documents. These include:
- A will: The foundation of any estate plan, directing how your assets are distributed after death.
- Trust agreements: Go further by transferring assets to beneficiaries while avoiding probate and adding control over timing and conditions.
- Durable power of attorney: Shifts focus from death to incapacity, designating someone to manage your financial affairs if you’re unable to.
- Living will: Extends that protection to medical decisions, documenting your wishes for end-of-life care.
- Healthcare directives: Build on the living will by naming a trusted person to make real-time medical decisions when you cannot speak for yourself.
Other team members
Tax professional
While not always required, some estate planning teams include additional professionals. You may need to get a certified public accountant (CPA) or another tax professional to manage the tax implications of your estate plan. This is the person who works with your estate attorney and financial advisor to make sure the structure of your estate plan has a low tax burden.
Trust officer
A trust officer is the person who manages and administers your trust, which might be necessary if you have large or complex assets.2
Not all estate plans need a trust officer. If you don’t have conditions on the release of your estate to beneficiaries, or have minimal assets, you may not need one.
How your team works together
Each estate planning professional has a different role in drafting and enforcing your plan. Think of your financial advisor as a project manager—they are making sure your estate plan aligns with your financial goals and coordinating any additional professionals you bring onboard.
An estate planning attorney will work closely with your advisor, drafting legally binding documents that explicitly express your wishes and stay compliant with the law.
When you need each professional
Most individuals and families with a simple estate—like a home, retirement accounts, and children—will be fine with a financial advisor and an estate planning attorney. If you own a business, have growing assets, or a blended family, you may want to enlist the help of a CPA. For those with significant wealth and complex estates, a trust officer might be a key team member.
Your financial advisor will be able to advise on whether you need to draft additional experts to your team. If needed, they can also recommend professionals within their network.
When vetting potential estate planning attorneys, ask a few questions to gauge how your plan will be managed, like:
- What documents should my estate plan include?
- Which state-specific laws should I know about?
- How do you work with my financial advisor and other experts on my team?
- What is my role in making sure everything runs like it’s supposed to?
- How often should we review or update my plan?
Life insurance: your estate plan’s secret sauce
When you die, your estate may owe taxes and have expenses that need to be paid. If your family doesn’t have cash on hand, they might be forced to sell assets—like a home, business, or investment portfolio — to cover the cost of those taxes.
Life insurance can be one of the most efficient tools in your estate planning toolkit. When crafted correctly, it can provide your family with immediate, income-tax-free liquidity to prevent hasty decisions they might otherwise make.
Ask your financial advisor or CPA about your options, including an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT)—a tax-efficient way to transfer wealth to your beneficiaries without causing a huge tax burden. Since the trust—not you—owns the policy, the death benefit is typically outside your taxable estate. This simple step can significantly reduce estate taxes while also making sure your heirs are getting access to funds that are rightfully theirs.3
How to spot gaps in your estate plan
Your estate plan should keep up with your evolving life, and your financial advisor is there to keep your plan up to date. They will also be able to spot any gaps that emerge.
For instance, you may have created a trust that never got funded, or you may not have updated beneficiary designations after a divorce, remarriage, or death. Maybe your life insurance was structured to be a tax liability rather than an advantage.4 Your financial advisor can help spot and fix these oversights.
What New York Life can offer
There are over 12,000 New York Life financial professionals nationwide who specialize in helping you start or update your estate plan. Having the right team of experts in place can give you peace of mind and assurance that your wishes will be respected.
FAQs
An estate planning lawyer and a financial advisor are two of the most important people to have on your estate planning team.
Financial advisors can help with beneficiary coordination, a funding strategy for your trust, and integrating your estate plan with your broader financial objectives. They can also help you find an attorney to draft a trust, a will, or a healthcare directive.
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1Locastro, Mark. “Trust & Will 2026 Estate Planning Report.” Trust & Will. April 9, 2026. https://trustandwill.com/learn/estate-planning-report-2026.
2White, Jeff. “Trust Officer: Role, Responsibilities and When You May Need One.” Jan. 30, 2026. https://smartasset.com/estate-planning/trust-officer-role-responsibilities.
3“What is an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT)?” New York Life. Accessed April 23, 2026. https://www.newyorklife.com/articles/importance-of-irrevocable-life-insurance-trusts.
4“How Advisors Can Work With Attorneys To Drive Better Estate Planning Outcomes For Clients.” Kitces, Michael. Accessed April 23, 2026. https://www.kitces.com/blog/financial-advisor-estate-planning-attorney-planning-cooperation-roles-client-referrals/.
Neither New York Life nor its Agents provide personal tax advice or legal advice. Please consult your legal or tax advisor to find out how the general concepts in this article apply to your personal circumstances.