Although a will is crucial to making sure your assets go where you want them when you die, you are likely to need something else, too: designated beneficiaries.

Before Zygmund Furmaniuk’s aunt Mary died in 2023, she set up a trust to hold her assets and to distribute her estate, which was valued at nearly $1 million.

A retired chemistry teacher, Mary Furmaniuk was single and had no children. Creating the trust, Mr. Furmaniuk said, was her way of making sure her assets ended up where she wanted them — with him and three other nieces and nephews. But even though his aunt had a will, the arrangement caused considerable frustration for Mr. Furmaniuk, of Belmont, Mass., and one of his cousins, who were co-executors.

The hard part wasn’t figuring out the sale of her house and what to do with her valuables. The more complicated part was distributing the money in her

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