Is Life Insurance Part of Your Estate Plan? Here’s Why It Should Be
When people think about estate planning, they usually think about wills and trusts. Maybe a healthcare directive. Possibly a power of attorney. Life insurance, however, often lives in a separate mental category. It's something people buy and often leave without revisiting. But life insurance and estate planning actually exist in the same category because they both play a crucial role in what happens after you're gone. When life insurance isn’t coordinated with an estate plan, it can create confusion, delays, or unintended outcomes for the loved ones.
People looking for insurance and those looking to protect their legacy are operating from the same mindset: taking care of their loved ones. Many of them simply aren't aware that they should be prioritizing both at the same time. This is why Goodtrust pairs so well with life insurance. We're creating a bridge from estate planning to life insurance policies and vice versa, providing benefits to the customers you want to nurture and develop long-lasting relationships with. Through our intuitive platform and innovative resources like our family plan and digital vault, we're helping you and your customers connect the dots so they can be protected across the board.
About half of Americans do not have life insurance and 40% of Americans, regardless of whether they have an existing policy, say they need more life insurance, that’s almost 100 million people. On the other end, even though 96% of Americans agree that estate planning is important, only 32% have a will. Unfortunately 40% of Americans believe they are "too poor" to have a will, which marks a 21% increase of opinion since 2022. Having an estate plan isn't about being wealthy, it's about ensuring the people we leave behind are taken care of. Another common reason people don't have an estate plan is they simply don't know where to start. The ease of GoodTrust and the quality of education we provide can help your customers avoid becoming a statistic and get peace of mind knowing their loves ones are protected should anything happen to them.
While life insurance is slightly more common than having an estate plan, millions of people have life insurance with no clear legal plan guiding how their broader legacy is handled. This is where GoodTrust as a insurance partner comes in.
Why Life Insurance Matters in Estate Planning
Life insurance doesn’t replace a will or trust — but it solves a problem those documents often can’t: timing.
Legal processes like probate or trust administration can take months. During that time, families still face immediate expenses and financial pressure. Life insurance provides liquidity exactly when it’s needed most.
When coordinated with an estate plan, life insurance can help:
Cover funeral and end-of-life expenses
Pay outstanding debts or medical bills
Replace lost income for surviving dependents
Help balance inheritances among heirs
Provide immediate cash while other assets are being settled
Here's the thing, a life insurance policy is only helpful if loved ones know it exists and know what to do with it. In moments of crisis, families often struggle to answer basic questions:
Where is the policy?
Which insurer is it with?
Who are the beneficiaries?
How do we file a claim?
Documentation and access matter just as much as coverage. That's why modern estate planning isn’t just about creating documents — it’s about organizing critical information in one secure place so it’s accessible when it matters most. That’s why the GoodTrust Digital Vault exists, to help people securely store and share their most important documents. With the GoodTrust Digital Vault, policies can easily be documented, organized, and made readily accessible for loved ones to find.
Younger Adults Are the Least Prepared — Despite Growing Sentiments of Value
In 2024, 36% of younger adults believed they should have a will by age 35, a growing sentiment since 2022. On the other hand, only 22% of millennials report having a will, with Gen Z adults showing even fewer numbers. When it comes to life insurance, about 60% of Gen Z and younger millennials recognize the value of purchasing a policy, but 20% of them don't believe they need one until they are older. More than 30% assume life insurance policies are too expensive without understanding that the costs can be lessened over time by purchasing young, and 48% of them admit they don't feel they know enough about policies to justify purchasing one.
More than ever before, younger generations are understanding the value, need, and benefit of setting up policies and plans young, yet many of them don't have the knowledge they need to make effective decisions. Partnering with GoodTrust can help you address the age-need disconnect, informing potential insurance policy holders younger to ensure their life, assets, and families are taken care of now and in the future.
The Bottom Line
Life insurance and estate planning aren’t separate tasks — they’re complementary parts of the same goal: protecting the people you love.
Life insurance provides immediate financial support. Estate planning documents provide legal clarity and direction. When they’re aligned, families are better protected during one of the most difficult moments they’ll ever face.
At GoodTrust, we are committed to making estate planning more widely accessible which is why we value partnering with life insurance companies to bring plans to the people who need it most all the while increasing knowledge and peace of mind.
Help your customers avoid guesswork, delays, and unnecessary stress, by setting them up for success. Learn more about partnering with GoodTrust today.