Wills, powers of attorney and directives

A pour-over will, a durable power of attorney, and an advance health care directive naming who decides when you cannot.

Three documents sit alongside the trust and each does something the trust cannot. The pour-over will catches anything never transferred in. The durable power of attorney names who signs for you financially. The advance health care directive names who decides medically, and says what you would want.

These are the documents most likely to be needed first, and most likely to be needed suddenly. They are also the ones people leave in a drawer without telling the person named in them.