No Kids, No Problem-Estate Planning for the Gloriously Childfree

You don’t have a little Olivia or Noah to leave your house to. That’s fine – your cat doesn’t have a mortgage either. Here’s how to make sure your hard-earned assets go exactly where you want them, rather than wherever a probate judge decides over a lukewarm cup of courthouse coffee.

If you’ve opted out of parenthood — whether by deliberate choice, circumstance, or simply because you can’t imagine sharing your Netflix — you’ve likely heard the same tired question: “But who will take care of me when I’m old?” The estate planning corollary to that is equally loaded: “But who will get my your stuff?”

Great news: estate planning without children isn’t harder. In many ways, it’s actually more interesting — because you get to make genuinely creative choices about where your legacy lands. You’re not just rubber-stamping assets to the next generation. You’re writing the whole story yourself.

First Things First: Don’t Die Intestate (It’s as Bad as It Sounds) – “Intestate” is what happens when you die without a will. The state then applies a preset formula to distribute your estate — and spoiler: that formula was written with nuclear families in mind. Without a will, your assets will likely flow to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. Your beloved partner of 15 years? Possibly nothing, unless you’re married. Your best friend who was basically family? Legally invisible.

The fix is simple, if not exactly thrilling: write a will, create an estate plan. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It just has to exist. An estate planning attorney can sort this out in an afternoon. You have no excuse — you have the time, since you’re not driving anyone to soccer practice.

Quick Note on Partners. Unmarried partners have essentially zero automatic inheritance rights in most states, no matter how long you’ve been together. If you want your partner protected, you need to name them explicitly — in your will, on your accounts, and in your beneficiary designations. Don’t assume love is enough. Legally, it isn’t.

Name Your Beneficiaries (And Actually Keep Them Updated) – Many of your most valuable assets — retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs, life insurance policies, bank accounts — pass directly to whoever you’ve named as beneficiary, completely bypassing your will. This is good news for efficiency. It’s terrible news if you haven’t updated those forms since your ex was still in the picture.

Think Creatively About Your Legacy – Here’s where the childfree estate plan gets genuinely fun. You’re not obligated to split everything among descendants. You can do whatever you want — within the bounds of law and basic human decency. Some options worth considering:

Friends and chosen family. If you have a tight-knit group of people who’ve functioned as your family, you can leave them assets directly. Just be specific in your will about who gets what, and make sure your personal representative knows where to find everyone.

Charity. A charitable bequest — giving a portion (or all) of your estate to a cause you care about — is a powerful option for those without heirs. Many people set up a donor-advised fund or name a charity directly in their will. It also comes with potential tax benefits for your estate.

Pets. You cannot legally leave money directly to an animal (unfortunately, your cat cannot sign a receipt). But you can establish a pet trust — a legal arrangement that funds the care of your pets and designates a caretaker. In many states this is explicitly recognized. Yes, this is a real thing, and yes, it is absolutely worth doing.

Consider a Trust — Definitely Not Just for the Wealthy – Trusts often get dismissed as the domain of the ultra-rich (a myth that endures for unknown reasons), but a basic revocable living trust can be genuinely useful for childfree adults. It allows your assets to pass to beneficiaries without going through probate (that slow, public, court-supervised process), gives you more control over how assets are distributed, and can name a successor trustee to manage things if you’re incapacitated. They’re especially helpful if you own property in multiple states (each state has its own probate process — fun!), or if you want to leave money in stages rather than all at once. Trusts are extremely customizable – supersize your estate in a few easy steps!

Estate planning without children isn’t about preparing for the worst — it’s about exercising the same intentionality you bring to the rest of your life. You’ve made thoughtful choices about how to live. Make thoughtful choices about what you leave behind. I’m here if you need help.