Once you’ve finished your will, one of the most important next steps is letting the people you’ve named in key roles know about it. While it’s not legally required to notify them, doing so helps avoid surprises, builds trust, and ensures your wishes can be carried out smoothly.
What are key appointees?
Key appointees are the people you’ve chosen to help carry out your estate plan. These often include:
Your executors - Responsible for managing your estate after you pass away
Your attorneys - Handles legal or financial decisions if you’re ever unable to
Your guardians - Takes care of your minor children or pets if needed
Your beneficiaries - The people or organizations you’ve chosen to receive part of your estate
Any backup roles - Alternate people you’ve named, in case someone is unable or unwilling to act
Why notifying key appointees matters
Letting people know they’ve been named in your will gives them the chance to:
Understand their role and responsibilities
Gives them a chance to ask questions ahead of time
Accept or decline the role, so you can update your plan if needed
Makes it easier for your executor to do their job when the time comes
Prevents confusion or surprises down the road
Gives your beneficiaries clarity and confidence about what they can expect
Some people might not need to act right away (or at all) but knowing ahead of time gives everyone the chance to be prepared.
Willful doesn’t include contact info in your will - and here’s why
We’re often asked why Willful wills don’t include contact details (like phone numbers or email addresses) for key appointees. There are two important reasons:
Privacy - Once a will goes through probate, it may become part of the public record. Leaving out contact information helps protect your loved ones’ privacy.
Simplicity - People move or change phone numbers often. If contact info is built into your will, every update requires reprinting, re-signing, and re-witnessing the entire document. By keeping contact details separate, your will remains easier to manage and keep up to date.
Instead, we recommend keeping a separate list with names, relationships, and up-to-date contact details - stored alongside your will, but not as part of it.
How to notify your key appointees
There are a few simple ways to let people know they’ve been named in your estate plan:
📧 Use Willful’s built-in email notification feature: Within your Willful account, you can notify your key appointees by email. This sends them a heads-up that they’ve been named in your will, along with some helpful guidance on what that means. You can choose to notify them right away or come back to it later.
🗣️ Start a conversation: Let your executor or power of attorney know they’ve been named, and give them a quick overview of their role. You don’t need to go into every detail - just make sure they understand what they’ve agreed to.
📝 Share a contact list: Create a list of your appointees with their contact information and store it in the same place as your will. This way, your executor has all the info they need, without it being part of the legal document.
What if someone declines?
The best time to notify your key roles is soon after you’ve signed your will. This ensures they’re prepared, have the information they need, and can ask any questions early on. It’s completely okay if someone doesn’t feel comfortable accepting a role. That’s why it’s so valuable to notify them now - not later. If someone declines:
Thank them for their honesty
Update your will to name someone else
Re-sign and re-witness the updated document
Notify your new appointee using the same steps