A last will and testament does three things: it names who receives your property, it nominates a personal representative to carry that out, and it nominates a guardian for minor children.
That third one matters more than people realize, because a will is the only document where a guardian can be nominated. However complete the rest of your plan, if you have children under eighteen you need a will for that reason alone.
What a will cannot do
It does not avoid probate. Quite the opposite. A will is the instruction manual for probate. Property passing under it goes through the court, becomes a public record, and waits out the creditor notice period before the estate can close.
It does not control accounts with beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts, life insurance and many bank accounts pass to whoever is named on the form, and that overrides both your will and your trust.
It does nothing while you are alive. A will has no effect until it is admitted to probate after death. It cannot help if you become incapacitated. That is what a power of attorney and a trust are for.
It cannot stage a distribution. Anything left to a minor is held until they turn eighteen and then handed over in full. For most families that is not the intended outcome.
The pour-over will
Where a plan is built around a trust, the will that accompanies it is called a pour-over will. It does two jobs: it nominates the guardian, and it catches anything that was never moved into the trust and directs it there.
It is a safety net rather than the main instrument. If it has to do real work, something was missed during funding.
Signing requirements
Your estate plan has to be signed with witnesses present. Most of the planning conversation can happen by phone or video if that is easier, but signing is arranged in person at a time that works for you, at the office on Plymouth Road.