The ultimate goal of estate planning can vary greatly from client to client, depending on their goals. These goals may be as complex or single.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is creating a plan to maintain control of your assets while you are alive and distribute them after you pass away. While some people may believe that estate planning is only for individuals with high net worth, everyone needs to have an estate plan. Estate planning can include a will, trust, power of attorney, and healthcare directive.

When it comes to estate planning, many people are comfortable doing it themselves, while others prefer to work with a professional. For those who prefer to work with a pro, the options include working with an individual or a corporate trustee.

“Estate planning is about your stuff. Legacy planning is about you.”

The Estate planning checklist is to inventory everything you own and owe (your assets and liabilities), including life insurance policies, retirement plans, bank accounts, and real estate. Review your beneficiaries on all accounts to make sure they are still appropriate.

Top Estate Planning Tips You Won’t Want to Miss:

Make An Inventory Of Your Assets.

To prepare for the estate planning process, make a list of all your assets.

Assets Include:

• Real Property (the home you own, any land you own)
• Personal Property (your car, any artwork or valuable items in your home)
• Non-retirement investment accounts would include brokerage accounts such as stocks or bonds held at Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab.
• Retirement accounts would include individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Roth IRAs, and 401(k)s. It is important to note that an inherited IRA has different rules than a regular IRA. The beneficiary must take required minimum distributions each year based on their life expectancy after inheriting the account. If an inherited 401(k) is rolled over into an inherited IRA, it has the same rules as an inherited IRA.

Make A List Of The People You Want To Inherit Your Assets.

Make a list of the people you want to inherit your assets.

Everyone makes a list when they start to plan their estate. But they tend to forget one thing—this list will change over time. You should review this list every couple of years and make any necessary changes. Do not forget important things like pets and charities, since these can easily be forgotten.

Organize Your Financial Documents.

The first step in estate planning is to be sure you have a system for keeping track of your financial documents that you can use. Most people put them in their safety or lockbox and leave them, but that is not enough.

One of the most important things about organizing your documents is to keep up-to-date copies of everything. For example, you have a list of all your assets and debts in a locked box, and then you get some new stocks or bonds. You update the list in the box, but when someone needs to access it, they find an outdated version and don’t know where the new one is. It would be best if you also got rid of any obsolete information like old computer backup discs, CDs, or DVDs that may contain sensitive data or old tax returns that are no longer needed.

Collect Information On Your Debts And Final Expenses.

Your estate plan should account for your debts and end-of-life expenses. Before deciding what to do with the assets you leave behind, you’ll need to figure out how much money you owe and how much it will cost to settle your estate.

Final expenses include but aren’t limited to medical bills and funeral costs. Debts that may be outstanding at death include student loans, credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans. Your estate is responsible for paying any outstanding debts after your death. If there isn’t enough money in your estate to cover all of these obligations, creditors can claim against the unpaid portion of your debts.

Choose Someone To Carry Out Your Wishes.

Choose someone to carry out your wishes. As part of creating an estate plan, you will want to designate one or more people who can make decisions and manage the distribution of assets if you are incapacitated. You may also choose a person to serve as an executor of your will.

Choose A Guardian For Minor Children And Animals.

You need to think about who would care for your children, pets, or other dependents if you could not do so. A good place to start is with family members. However, there are many factors to consider when choosing an estate guardian, including geography, religious and moral beliefs, lifestyle choices (for example, smoking), finances, and whether the guardian has an existing family of their own.

Write Or Update Your Will.

The purpose of a will is to dictate what happens to your assets when you pass. A will should include:

• Detailed instructions on how to distribute your assets
• Guardianship decisions for minor children
• Who you have chosen as the executor of your estate, and their contact information

Final Words

As you can see, estate planning is a complicated matter that requires expert advice from an estate planning attorney. However, the above tips are key for every adult to understand and put into practice.