5 Legal Documents You Should Have Signed Before 65 to Protect Your Assets

Let’s be real, nobody wants to think about the day when they can’t make decisions for themselves. It’s uncomfortable, maybe even a little scary. Yet ignoring these conversations doesn’t make the risks disappear. The truth is, waiting too long to get your legal house in order could leave your family scrambling during a crisis.

In 2025, only around one quarter of Americans have a will, with just 13 percent reporting a living trust. The 2025 Trust & Will Estate Planning Report found that 55 percent have no estate documents whatsoever. These numbers are honestly pretty shocking when you consider what’s at stake. If you’re approaching 65 or already there, now’s the time to take control before life forces your hand.

1. Durable Financial Power of Attorney

Think of this document as your financial safety net when you can’t manage things yourself. Long-term care can cost between roughly eight to fourteen thousand dollars monthly, making powers of attorney for property essential asset protection tools – yet plain-vanilla versions simply won’t suffice. You need what’s called a durable financial power of attorney, which stays in effect even if you become incapacitated.

This legal document lets you appoint someone you trust – maybe your adult child, spouse, or close friend – to handle everything from paying bills to managing investments when you’re unable to. Without it, your family might have to go through an expensive, time-consuming court process to get guardianship just to access your accounts or sell property to pay for your care. Nobody wants their loved ones stuck in court when they should be focused on your wellbeing.

2. Healthcare Power of Attorney and Advance Directive

The National Institute on Aging reports that people incorrectly guess their loved ones’ preferences regarding end-of-life decisions at a high rate – one out of three. That’s a sobering statistic. An Advance Directive and a Durable Power Of Attorney for Health Care Decisions both address your wishes regarding future healthcare and medical treatment, though they are two separate documents: the first states your end-of-life medical wishes; the latter authorizes a trusted individual to speak on your behalf.

The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care. Your healthcare power of attorney names someone to make medical decisions when you can’t communicate them yourself. Meanwhile, your advance directive spells out exactly what treatments you’d want in specific situations. Together, these documents ensure medical professionals and your family know your wishes – removing the burden of guessing from their shoulders during already difficult times.

3. Revocable Living Trust

Here’s where things get interesting for asset protection. A revocable trust is a versatile estate planning tool that offers unique benefits for individuals who want to retain control over their assets during their lifetime while ensuring a smooth transfer after their passing – unlike irrevocable trusts, revocable trusts can be modified or even canceled by the grantor at any time. The primary advantage? Your assets bypass probate court entirely, saving your heirs both time and money.

Unless you anticipate the need for nursing home care within the next eight to ten years, the preferred way to plan is to set up a revocable trust along with powers of attorney. It’s worth noting that while a revocable living trust can provide numerous benefits – namely, the distribution at death of one’s property without court supervision and possibly substantial tax advantages – such a trust does not provide creditor protection. Still, for most people approaching retirement, the probate-avoidance benefits alone make this document invaluable.

4. Last Will and Testament

Even if you set up a trust, you absolutely need a will. A will is held by just 31 percent of Americans, while only 11 percent have a trust, and in total, 55 percent of Americans have no estate plan at all. That’s astonishing when you consider what happens without one – the state decides who gets your belongings, and it might not align with what you’d want.

A common misconception is that valuable assets are needed to justify a Will – however, every adult can benefit from having a Will for several reasons, including ensuring even assets with sentimental value are allocated according to your wishes. Your will also names guardians for any minor dependents and designates an executor to handle your estate. It works alongside your trust to catch any assets you didn’t transfer into the trust during your lifetime, functioning as a crucial backup plan.

5. HIPAA Authorization Form

This one catches people off guard because it seems minor compared to the others. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that protects health care privacy and prevents disclosure of health care information to unauthorized people – while the law’s intentions were good, its implementation can sometimes mean that doctors or hospital officials block the release of information to people the patient is close to and who should be privy to that information.

All relationships – spouses, adult children, and parents – need explicit authorization to access your protected health information; a HIPAA authorization form allows the named individuals to speak to medical personnel about your care, condition, and treatment, and unless you provide specific authorization for them to communicate with your doctor, your healthcare provider won’t talk to them on the phone, give them any updates about you, or even take information from them if they call on your behalf. Honestly, this seems ridiculous when it’s your own family, but the law is the law. You also need to ensure that your power of attorney and health care proxy contain a HIPAA clause that explains that the agent is also the personal representative for the purposes of health care disclosures under HIPAA.

Taking Action Now Protects Everyone Later

Looking at these five documents together, the pattern becomes clear. They’re all about maintaining control over your life and protecting the people you care about from unnecessary stress, expense, and confusion. The most significant reasons that 56 percent of respondents don’t have a will or trust are because it’s low on the to-do list, and they don’t feel they have enough assets to leave anyone. Sound familiar?

The reality is, these documents aren’t just for wealthy people with complicated estates. They’re for anyone who wants their wishes respected and their loved ones spared from preventable hardship. Setting up these five legal protections before 65 gives you peace of mind and your family a clear roadmap during what will already be emotional times. Have you put off these conversations long enough?