Estate Planning Checklist: How to track your important tasks in order
This planning checklist will help you to stay organized and keep track of your important documents and decisions that will be useful to help you for planning for the future
A complete planning checklist helps you to consider what to take into account not only your property but also the people around you including your family. It is important to plan ahead in order to make sure you will have everything in advance and not be stressed for the future. We want to help you meet your organizational goals and cheklists.
Before you start: Have these useful documents ready beforehand
Statements of financial accounts such as savings, investments, or retirement
Balance statements of any outstanding debts
Insurance policies including life and disability insurance
Documents stating ownership of important assets such as mortgages, titles, and deeds
Estate Planning Checklist
This checklist will help you evaluate what steps are most valuable and useful for you
Take into account what you own
You must first take into account anything you own and to whom you have distributed any of your belongings. This is the first crucial step when you plan what happens to your property. Take into account any of these possible things you may own when thinking about your poperty:
Your home and any other properties you own
Bank accounts
Retirement accounts
Brokerage accounts
Vehicles
Clothing, jewelry, other accessories or valuables
Household items, furnishings, etc
2. Make a Last Will and Testament
Who do you want receiving your belongings after your death? This second step is crucial to make for your family members to know what they can receive from your assets after you die. Make a last will and testament to lay out who will receive those belongings. You will also need to nominate a guardian for any minor children in your will.
In your will, you normally:
Designate who will get which properties that have not been handled through joint ownership or a beneficiary designation
Name someone whom you trust as the executor of your estate
Assign someone you trust to be the guardian of your children
3. Find a trusted executor for your estate
When the time comes to choose an executor of your estate, it’s important to pick someone you trust. This individual will become responsible for making sure everything is carried out in order from your will.
Find people whom you trust that are:
Responsible - so they are able to use good judgment when they carry out your wishes
Financially stable - so they will not be seen as a risk to your estate
Mentally fit - so the responsibilities of executorship will be within their grasp
It is also important to name at least one successor executor because that way if your executor cannot carry out their duties, you will then have a backup. It is more ideal to choose someone younger than your first choice
4. Consider a living trust
A living trust is similar in terms of how you choose how your assets are distributed, but this can allow your heirs to avoid probate court. Your assets need to be titled in the name of the trust which is how a trust involves more responsibility for upkeep. Due to these reasons to consider for considering whether a last will or living trust is better for you, it is recommended that you talk to an attorney
5. Opt for a power of attorney (POA)
A power of attorney is a document that appoints someone you trust to handle your financial or medical affairs. The person that you hire to act on your behalf is the attorney-in-fact, while you delegate the authority.
There are 3 types of POAs:
Non-durable POA: Effective immediately, lasting until you become incapacitated
Immediate and durable POA: Effective immediately and continues to remain effective after you become incapacitated
Springing POA: this is only effective once you are incapacitated
If the POA is effective immediately, your agent may continue to act even if you are available
There are 2 options you may want to consider when you put together an estate plan: a healthcare power of attorney and a financial power of attorney. A healthcare power of attorney is someone whom you trust to make decisions in accordance to your health care if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. A financial power of attorney is someone you trust to act on your behalf in financial matters.
6. Write a Living Will
A living will is what controls decisions around end-of-life care. Know what types of medical treatment you need to seek in the event when you become injured or ill and are not able to voice your wants and needs.
In a living will, you can include your preferences on things such as:
Breathing assistance
Medications and treatment
Supplemental feeding
Palliative care
It is important to make a living will with a health care power of attorney so that your wishes are fulfilled. It can also express your wishes in the event your agent is not available at a crucial moment.
7. Consider your estate tax obligations
Read the Internal Revenue Service’s rules on estate taxes, where they change yearly. If your estate approaches that number a tax professional or attorney to get your bases covered. You should also make sure to find out if your state has anything that might affect your estate: these can include any inheritance taxes or any death.
8. Get your digital assets in order
It’s important to write down all your digital logins and passwords for online and social networking sites for all your accounts. You want to give these passwords and login info to someone whom you trust in order to access them after your death.
Apps and different sites to consider writing down your login info:
Social and Messaging Apps: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest
Transactions and banking: Venmo, Cash App, Paypal
Email and Gmail accounts
All your information will be public after your death so it is important to avoid listing sensitive or information that is too personal. Make sure your executor knows where to locate your list.
9. Make a guide for your executors
This guide is to the location of property, documents, and should state your final wishes
This information should located and clearly identify:
Mortgages
Financial accounts
Insurance policies
Credit cards
Vehicle loans
This should also detail important information like:
Contact information for close friends and relatives to be notified of your death
Locations of assets that are unaccounted for (such as storage units, safe deposit boxes, and more)
Instructions regarding your desires for burial, funeral ceremonies, cremation, organ donation, and more
A statement of desires can summarize instructions for your beneficiaries and will lighten the confusion
10. Review and update your documents periodically
Always revisit all your estate planning documents to make sure everything is still correct and is in accordance with your wishes.
Every year, take a look at your estate planning documents and think about any important life changes that could affect your estate plan, such as:
Marriages
Divorces
Deaths
Births
If any of these happens to a chosen representative, an appointed guardian, or to a named beneficiary, you should take steps to make sure your estate plan is current.
You can begin to gather your affairs in order once you take into consideration these estate planning basics. If you are still unsure where to begin, you can bundle estate plan services together so that an attorney is able to answer your questions and help you prepare your paperwork.
To get the name of an estate attorney near you, or to help you in the sale of your or your family’s properties, please give us a call at (310) 519-7670.