Here are the five basic estate planning documents you should consider having in place to protect your estate:

Last Will and Testament. A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that becomes effective at the time of an individual's death and that provides for the transfer of an individual's assets to whomever one directs such assets. A Last Will and Testament has to be admitted to probate, a court-supervised procedure, that in many states can sometimes be a lengthy and expensive process depending upon the particular set of facts of each case. Even if you have a revocable living trust (discussed below), a Last Will and Testament is still necessary as a "backstop" and may provide guidance regarding guardianship of one's minor children.

Revocable Living Trust. A revocable living trust is another document that directs where an individual's assets pass to at their death. A revocable living trust provides two benefits that a Last Will and Testament does not: probate avoidance and incapacity planning.

A revocable living trust is simply a legal arrangement between three (3) people: the person creating the trust (known as the "grantor," "trustor" or "settlor"), the trustee (who takes legal title to the property) and the beneficiary for whom the trust is administered. In the case of "revocable living" trusts ("revocable" meaning it can be revoked, and "living" meaning it is created during the grantor's lifetime), the same person is typically the grantor, the trustee and the beneficiary. Even though one can continue to control the property as trustee, that same person no longer owns the property outright. This means that the successor trustee named in the trust agreement takes over automatically if one dies or becomes incapacitated.

A revocable living trust agreement operates only over those assets held in the name of the trustee, so if a grantor creates a trust but fails to transfer assets to it (known as "funding the trust"), it may not work as it was intended.

Statutory Durable Power of Attorney. Under a statutory durable power of attorney, an individual appoints another person (known as the "agent") to handle the assets on their behalf. It remains in effect after one becomes incapacitated and allows an individual's agent to handle the assets in the same ways an individual could, which means that an individual has to select their agent carefully.

Health Care Power of Attorney. Also known as a health care directive, this document also designates an agent on an individual's behalf, but, in this case, for the specific purpose of making day-to-day medical decisions for an individual when the individual is unable to do so.

Living Will. Not a will at all, a "living will" is a statement of intent regarding the life support measure an individual may want when they are unable to speak for themselves. It serves a different purpose than the health care power of attorney; the living will is a non-binding statement of intent, while the health care power of attorney appoints someone to make binding decisions for an individual.

A well thought-out estate plan deals not only with the disposition of an individual's assets at death, but also the care of oneself and an individual's wealth while living. Such a plan will incorporate many, if not all, of the documents described above.