An organized estate is among the best gifts you can leave behind for your survivors. Creating and completing an effective estate planning checklist ensures that your wishes are carried out. It also ensures your family is in a better place to cope with your demise.
Here is an estate planning checklist focusing on the 15 most important things to do before you die.
1. Take stock of your inventory
Start by going through the items in your home and taking note of the worthy items. Those worth over $100, like television sets or laptops/computers, vehicles, jewelry, and the home itself must be included. Add up the values of all your possessions and keep a record of your physical items’ inventory.
2. Take stock of your non-physical items
Next, add up the values of your non-physical assets. Some of them include:
- 401k plans
- Bank accounts
- Brokerage accounts
- IRA assets
- Life insurance policies
- Other insurance plans like auto, health, disability, etc.
3. List your open debts and credit cards
All your existing mortgages or other loans and credit cards must be noted on a separate list. This will give you an estimate of your overall debt which can be leveraged against your assets to determine your net worth.
4. List the charities or organizations you support
If you are part of organizations such as your college alumni or the AARP and so on, make a list including all the charitable institutions you support. The organizations that you donate to usually have some benefits for which your survivors become eligible upon your death.
5. Make copies of your assets list
After creating the aforementioned lists, make three copies and share two of them with the estate administrator and your spouse. One can be kept in a safe place for yourself.
6. Review your retirement accounts
Go through your 401k plans, IRA assets, and other retirement accounts, and select the beneficiary for each account. Make sure that each account has the beneficiaries listed in the order of your choosing because the listing in each account takes precedence over your will.
7. Update your annuities and insurance policies
Like your retirement accounts, annuities and insurance benefits also pass by contract. Make sure that you have listed your beneficiaries correctly to let insurers know where to distribute your funds.
8. Assign Transfer-On-Death Designations
Your savings bank account, brokerage accounts, and other accounts are probated, which means that they are distributed based on the court’s instruction. Contacting your bank and setting up the TOD feature can eliminate this unnecessary process.
9. Make your will
Your will reveals who gets your possessions and money after your passing. It will also state who you wish to appoint as a guardian for your minor children if any. Hiring an expert estate planning attorney will ensure that your wishes are carried out exactly as intended. Preparing a will checklist will help you get everything moving fast and smoothly. OC Estate & Elder Law can help you make an iron-clad Will that would prevent anyone from challenging it.
10. Choose an estate administrator
At the time of your death, the responsibility of carrying out your will rests with your estate administrator. Think about all your family members and pick the most responsible individual to execute your will.
11. Create powers of attorney
Powers of attorney let you choose someone who can make decisions for you in case you are
incapacitated. You will have to appoint two powers of attorney – one for your personal, financial, and legal affairs, and one who can make your health care decisions.
12. Review your estate planning documents
Go through your estate planning documents at least once a year, especially after major events like marriage or the birth of a child. Since your assets and liabilities list is bound to change as the years go by, reviewing them periodically can help you stay on top.
13. Share your will with your administrator
After signing and notarizing your will, make sure to send a copy to your estate administrator to let them know of your intentions.
14. Keep your estate planning documents together
Your will and other estate planning documents must be kept in a safe place. Make sure that copies of the important documents are shared with the concerned people as well. Improper documents can result in family disputes and/or your assets being distributed to the wrong people.
15. Consult an estate planning attorney
Once you have completed your estate planning checklist, consult with an estate planning attorney
to make sure that no stone is left unturned. OC Estate & Elder Law can help safeguard your assets.
Proper estate planning not only ensures that your possessions go to the right people but also gives your family fewer things to worry about in your absence. Ideally, everyone over 30 years of age should have planned their will. If you haven’t already, it is time to prepare an estate planning checklist and consider other things to do before you die.