Will Plan
Document your wishes and identify beneficiaries while coordinating important financial and health care documents.
Our Plans · Your Future
Thoughtful plans for every stage of life.
Why Estate Planning Documents Matter to Your Life, Your Family, and Your Legacy.
Estate planning is more than preparing documents. It's about protecting the home you've worked for, preserving the assets you've accumulated, making your wishes known, and providing direction for the people you love. Every document has a purpose. Together, they help create a plan for your life, your family, and the legacy you leave behind.
Discover what matters most
A family's future. A legacy worth protecting.Your priorities, your future
What matters most to you?
Every family's story is different.
Choose a priority below to see how estate planning can help.
Your priority
Protecting your home
Your home may be one of the most meaningful assets you own. How it is titled—and whether it has been transferred into your trust—can determine how it passes to the people you love.
Explore these topics
Talk with MMT about your priorities →Plans built around people
Explore our estate planning plans.
Choose a plan to learn what's included, why it matters, and what to consider.
Trust Plan
Bring your wishes and your assets together in a coordinated plan that helps your family avoid probate for assets properly placed in your trust.
Legacy Plan
Our more hands-on planning experience, combining trust-based planning with a detailed look at your assets and the steps needed to implement your wishes.
What this plan includes
- Last Will and Testament, including wishes for distributing probate assets.
- Durable financial power of attorney.
- Georgia advance directive for health care.
What to know
A will states your wishes, but it does not keep assets out of probate, and its provisions can be contested. A will also does not replace the documents used to make financial and medical decisions during incapacity.
Compare a Will and a Trust →What this plan includes
- Core documents and protections included in the Will Plan.
- Revocable trust provisions during your lifetime, with irrevocable provisions taking effect at death as specified in your trust, and successor trustee provisions.
- Pour-over will coordinated with the trust plan.
- HIPAA authorization for specified medical information.
- Instructions for funding your trust and coordinating asset ownership.
- Planning for management of trust assets during incapacity.
- Instructions for distributing trust assets to beneficiaries.
What to know
In Georgia, assets properly titled in a funded living trust pass under the trust rather than through probate. Assets left outside the trust may still require probate or other administration. During your lifetime, revocable trust provisions alone generally do not protect your assets from your own creditors. The trust plan also includes provisions that become irrevocable upon death, serving a different purpose in managing and distributing the trust assets.
See how trust funding works →What this plan includes
- Core protections and documents included in the Trust Plan.
- Guardianship preferences for your offspring, where legal guardianship applies, alongside provisions for eligible unmarried students through age 26 in the Family Legacy Protection Plan.
- Detailed asset and ownership review.
- Preparation of an asset inventory.
- Assistance with applicable transfer paperwork.
- Assistance with funding your trust, including applicable asset transfers, account titling, beneficiary designations, and coordination of the plan.
What to know
Having documents signed is only part of the process. Asset ownership and beneficiary designations must work with the plan to achieve the intended result.
Learn about coordinating assets →Estate planning, explained
What exactly is probate?
Probate is the court process used to administer certain assets after a person dies. Depending on the circumstances, the court may establish who has authority to act, oversee estate administration, and determine how assets are distributed.
The bottom line: Think of the probate court as a financial referee.
When someone dies, the probate court may oversee the legal process of settling their estate. Valid debts and expenses must be addressed before the remaining probate property can be distributed. Sometimes that means selling an asset, including a home or vehicle, to pay what is owed.
A will tells the court what the person wanted, but it does not make those instructions impossible to challenge. Family members or other interested people may raise objections, and disputes can delay distribution. During that time, loved ones may be unable to sell, transfer, or access certain estate assets.
Probate can take months, and contested or complicated estates can remain unresolved for years. There is no single timeline: the number of assets, debts, court requirements, and disagreements all matter.
Here's the important distinction: A will does not, by itself, keep assets out of probate. Assets properly transferred into a living trust are administered under the trust and do not go through probate.
See how a will and trust compare →A simplified Georgia estate process
01
Authority is established
When probate is required, the appropriate petition is filed with the probate court.
02
The estate is administered
The authorized representative addresses assets, valid claims, and required obligations.
03
Property is distributed
Remaining probate assets are distributed according to the will or Georgia law.
The process depends on the estate and its assets; not every estate requires all of these steps.
Understand your options
Will or Living Trust?
Both have a purpose. Select a question to see what each document does.
Important questionWillRevocable living trust
Who receives my property?Names beneficiariesNames trust beneficiaries
A will directs the distribution of property passing under the will, generally through probate when probate is required. If an interested person contests the will, the dispute may be resolved in probate court and delay distribution. A trust directs the distribution of property held by the trust, outside probate for properly funded trust assets.
Does it keep assets out of probate?No, not by itselfYes, for funded trust assets
In Georgia, property properly transferred into a living trust passes under the trust instead of through probate. Property not transferred into the trust may still require probate unless another nonprobate transfer applies.
How can it protect my offspring?States wishes; court decides guardianshipCan direct financial support
A Will can express your wishes about who should care for your children, but those wishes may become the subject of court proceedings. The Trust Plan and optional Family Legacy Protection Plan go further by establishing how assets are managed and distributed for your offspring. The Family Legacy Protection Plan also provides for eligible unmarried offspring pursuing or continuing their education through age 26. The difference: A Will states your intentions. A properly structured and funded Trust establishes a plan for managing and distributing assets according to your instructions, without probate for the assets held in the Trust.
Can it help during incapacity?Not by itselfFor trust-held assets
A successor trustee may manage trust assets according to the trust terms. A financial power of attorney and advance directive address other financial and health care decisions.
Does it require funding?No trust fundingYes, asset transfer matters
Signing a trust is not the same as funding it. Transferring assets into the trust and coordinating beneficiary arrangements are critical steps. An unfunded trust is largely just a document until assets are placed under its provisions.
Understand the differences
Not All Trusts Work the Same Way.
Two commonly discussed trust structures serve different purposes.
Understanding the differences helps you ask the right questions.
FLEXIBILITY & CONTROL
Revocable Living Trust
Generally allows its creator to amend or revoke the trust during life, while retaining control over trust assets.
- Can organize management of trust assets during incapacity.
- Can keep properly funded trust assets out of probate.
- Generally does not protect the creator's assets from the creator's own creditors.
SPECIALIZED PLANNING
Irrevocable Trust
Generally limits the creator's ability to change or revoke the trust and may be structured for particular legacy, tax, or asset-protection objectives.
- Can keep properly transferred trust assets out of probate.
- May offer creditor protection depending on its terms and Georgia law.
- Usually involves greater restrictions on access and control.
The step that makes a difference
Your assets. Your trust. Your legacy.
Creating a trust is the beginning. Funding a trust means transferring assets into the trust's ownership or otherwise coordinating them with the plan.
Your home, bank accounts, investments, business interests, and personal property may require different steps. Retirement accounts and insurance policies require special consideration of beneficiary designations rather than automatically retitling them.
Why it matters: A trust that is not funded is just a document—it cannot keep assets out of probate if those assets were never transferred into it. Assets properly transferred into your living trust are managed and distributed under the trust without probate. Assets left outside it may not receive that benefit.
Helping you fund your trust. We work with you on the steps to transfer assets and coordinate ownership and beneficiary information with your estate plan.
What might need attention?
⌂ Home and other real estate
◇ Checking, savings, and brokerage accounts
▣ Business and ownership interests
♡ Insurance and retirement beneficiaries
✦ Valuables, heirlooms, and personal property
How an asset is handled depends on its type, title, and intended beneficiaries.
For the next generation
Family Legacy Protection Plan
Protecting children and dependents involves more than naming who receives property. It means thinking about who will care for them, who can make decisions, and how resources will support their future.
CareRecord guardianship preferences for minor offspring and identify trusted people to care for them.
ContinuityPlan how financial support can continue when circumstances change.
EducationPlan financial support for eligible unmarried offspring pursuing or continuing education through age 26.
Decisions when they matter most
Health care wishes deserve a voice, too.
Estate planning also addresses the decisions your loved ones may face during your lifetime.
Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care
Lets you name a health care agent and communicate treatment preferences if you cannot speak for yourself. It helps the people you trust understand and carry out your wishes.
HIPAA Authorization
Can authorize designated individuals to receive specified protected medical information. Access depends on the authorization and applicable law; it does not, by itself, give someone authority to make treatment decisions.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
Allows a person you choose to handle specified financial and property matters under the document's terms, including during incapacity when properly structured.
Take the next step
Your legacy deserves a plan.
Whether you're beginning to explore estate planning or ready to take the next step, MMT Estate Planning is here to help you understand your options.
Schedule a Consultation