None of us is thrilled with the notion that we are not immortal and writing wills or doing estate planning seems to be conveniently perceived as something needed only when we are old and a natural life span is about over.
Wills and insurance should be a normal part of growing up. As soon as you have anyone who depends on you financially you need a will and likely need insurance as well. And these things are not 'once and done' but need to be reviewed when changes to your situation happen.
As a single mom I carried a $450k declining term life insurance because at the time of its purchase, that was roughly what it would have cost to raise and educate the kids to adulthood. Once they were on their own, there was no need to keep the policy, though if I had needed to care for my parents, I could have switched it over to have them be the beneficiaries.
I chose to go the Living Trust route, wherein the documentation establishes the Trustee as me during my lifetime and a Successor Trustee to handle my Estate when I am no longer able to make decisions myself and when I am gone. The requirements for it and the benefits of it vary from state to state, but handled correctly it avoids Probate and the opportunity for the Judge to determine who gets what of my assets and lawyers getting the lion's share.
As part of the whole Estate process, I have a comprehensive listing of assets and liabilities that gets updated every time I open or close an account. If there is a stated beneficiary to an account, that is listed. I don't expect my heirs to fight over what I leave behind so I will do what I can during my lifetime to make sure that doesn't happen. Plenty of space to add new accounts and a line through a closed account with the closing date assures that nobody gets frustrated because they KNOW I had a BOA account and can't find anything in my papers and BOA is telling them nothing.
A minimal package of documents everybody should have is:
Living Will - as mentioned above. Do you want 'heroic' measures to keep your heart beating if there is no 'quality of life' left or option to recover?
Power of Attorney - this names a person who can handle your financial affairs during your life if you are incapable of doing so yourself.
Healthcare Surrogate - this names a person to make medical decisions for you in case you are unable to do so. Sometimes this is combined into a Living Will.
Will or Living Trust - this names your Executor or Successor Trustee who is to distribute your assets after your death and may or may not specifically identify the assets in the document or by an additional listing referred to as a codicil.
Other documents it is good to have as part of the package are:
Organ donation information
Disposition of your body - do you want a funeral? a memorial service? a casket and burial? cremation and ashes scattered? donation of the body to medicine?