Estate Planning and the Military: What You Need To Know

Being responsible for your family includes planning for your loved ones‘ care and securing your family’s future if something were to happen to you. This includes scenarios such as a debilitating injury or death.

This is an even greater concern for those in the military, especially those on active duty. They face the ever-looming prospect of overseas deployments, combat, or even risky training environments that can include jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. The military profession is rife with hazards to life and limb. This makes it all the more important for service members to have a comprehensive estate plan in place to protect their families and ensure long-term financial security.

If you have questions about your estate plan, consider speaking with a military attorney or civilian estate planning attorney near you. They can review your documents, explain your options, and help make sure your family’s future is protected.

What Does the Military Offer?

The military provides a variety of estate planning services, including legal advice and the preparation of legal documents. Typically, you can expect a military lawyer to provide support with:

• Durable powers of attorney for financial matters (limited and general) and health care decisions, which are especially critical in the event of incapacity
• Living wills, which outline your wishes regarding medical treatment if you are unable to communicate them
• Funeral and burial arrangements, including burial benefits available to service members and veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Organ donation
• Wills
• Trusts (simple)
• Family care plans
• Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI)
• Beneficiary designation updates for SGLI, other life insurance policies, and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
• The survivor benefit plan (SBP) provides an ongoing monthly income to eligible survivors after the death of a service member and is distinct from Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), though it can be supplemented by it
• Estate taxes
• Estate administration/probate (although military lawyers are unable to represent you in court)

Your beneficiary designations for SGLI, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and any retirement accounts are legally independent of your will. This means they take priority over whatever your will says. A military attorney can help you review and update these designations to make sure your assets go to the people you intend them to.

If you never updated a beneficiary designation after a divorce or remarriage, your assets could end up with an unintended recipient, regardless of what your will provides. TSP guidelines make clear that a will, prenuptial agreement, separation agreement, or court order cannot override a beneficiary designation that has been filed.

Take the time to review these designations any time a major life event occurs. This includes the following:

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Death of a named beneficiary or executor
• Significant change in assets
• A PCS move involving a change of legal domicile
• A major promotion

Other events may require consideration as well. It’s better to learn that you don’t need to make a change instead of finding out later that you should have.

Limitations of the Military Estate Plan

There are likely two ways in which you’ll encounter military estate planning services. You’ll either set up an appointment with your local legal assistance office or rush through a series of stations as part of the pre-mobilization or pre-deployment process. Either way, here’s an idea of what to expect.

Setting up Trusts

You can expect competent legal counsel from a military law attorney. If you have a more complex financial or family situation, using military estate planning services may not be the best solution.

For example, your assets may approach the lifetime gift tax exemption, which is currently $15 million per individual for 2026, as set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Most military families won’t come close to this federal threshold, though some states impose their own estate taxes at significantly lower levels. If your assets do approach this exemption, or if you have family members with special needs, you would likely require the creation of one or more trusts to help you:

• Avoid federal or state estate taxes
• Avoid probate (by removing assets held in your name at your death)
• Provide adequate support for special needs family members while ensuring their continued eligibility for needs-based assistance

While a military lawyer may be able to create simple trusts, they may not have the time or resources to create the trusts needed to address a complex financial or family situation. Given their limitations, a military lawyer would not likely be able to prepare the instruments needed to transfer assets out of your name and into your trust. These would include such things as:

• Property deeds and any accompanying change of ownership forms to avoid reassessments
• Forms to change account titles on bank accounts or investment accounts
• Forms to re-issue stock certificates so they are titled in your trust and not your name

All of these transfers are needed to ensure your assets are titled in your trust, not in your individual name. Each transfer also requires follow-up with the county recorder, a financial institution, or a corporation. This may be beyond what a military lawyer can do. If you do create a trust with a military lawyer, they will probably direct you to transfer your assets on your own.

Other Options to Avoid Probate

If you have investments or real property and want to avoid probate, a military lawyer could prepare your estate plan without a trust. This would change title to your assets in a way that would avoid the probate process. For example, real property held as “joint tenancy” normally will not trigger probate, as the property automatically passes to the remaining joint tenant at your death. Accounts titled “payable on death” often have the same effect. You can ask your military lawyer to see whether these options would work for you.

Deployment-Specific Documents

Pre-deployment is a time-sensitive window for estate planning. Other than a basic will and power of attorney, you should also check a few additional documents before you leave:

• A special power of attorney can authorize a trusted person to handle specific tasks while you are deployed. These tasks can include managing bank accounts, filing taxes, or conducting real estate transactions. Your legal assistance office can prepare these quickly.
• If you have minor children, a temporary guardianship designation ensures someone can make medical, educational, and daily care decisions for your children in your absence. This is especially important for single parents and dual-military couples.
• Single parents and dual-military couples are also required to maintain a family care plan. This plan will designate who will care for their dependents if both parents are unavailable, providing significant peace of mind. Your unit will require this document before deployment. Make sure the named caregiver is still the right person and is aware of the responsibility.

Taking the time to prepare these contingencies can make things much easier if something happens.

Digital Assets

A growing portion of a service member‘s financial and personal life exists online. Your estate plan needs to account for the inclusion of digital assets. These include online banking, investment accounts, cryptocurrency holdings, and platforms holding financial value. Cryptocurrency, in particular, can be inaccessible if no one has the credentials or private keys after your death.

Your will can authorize your executor to access and manage digital accounts. Maintain a secure, current record of your accounts and login credentials in an accessible location for your executor. A civilian estate planning attorney can advise on your state’s digital asset laws.

Nearly all states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). This law provides fiduciaries a legal framework for accessing and managing a deceased person’s digital accounts and electronic communications.

State Portability and When To Update Your Estate Plan

Military families can move frequently. As a result, military service members may be concerned about whether their estate planning documents remain valid after a Permanent Change of Station (PCS). In general, they do. The estate planning documents drafted in one state remain valid even after a PCS. Under most state probate codes, a will is valid if it was properly executed in accordance with the laws of the state where it was signed. It is also valid if executed under the laws of your state of domicile.

A PCS move is a good opportunity to review your estate documents. State estate and inheritance tax rules, property laws, and other legal specifics can differ significantly. If you own property in multiple states, your estate may face separate probate proceedings. An estate attorney may advise you to have a revocable living trust to help avoid the scenario of having separate probate proceedings in each state.

As a reminder, you should update your estate plan whenever a major life event occurs. Second marriages and blended families with stepchildren create more complex planning. Don’t be afraid to seek legal advice from an estate planning attorney.

Getting the Right Legal Help

For basic estate planning, begin with your installation’s legal assistance office. You can locate a nearby military legal assistance office using the Legal Services Locator. These free, licensed services are well-suited for most military members‘ estate planning needs. Military OneSource also offers free legal assistance to those in its ranks and their family members, including estate planning assistance.

However, some situations call for a civilian estate planning attorney. These include having significant assets, property in multiple states, or a blended family. Civilian attorneys can provide tailored advice and prepare necessary documents. Many have experience with military families. They can address challenges related to relocations, military benefits, deployments, and VA benefits. They can also manage trust funding and asset transfers, which military legal offices typically do not handle.

If you have other military-specific legal matters beyond estate planning, you may also want to consider consulting civilian attorneys who specialize in military law.