Many people believe that, once they’ve completed a will, they’ve done their estate planning. And most of those people – or, unfortunately, their heirs – eventually find out they’ve only scraped the surface.
Here’s just a partial checklist…
- Do you have minor children? If so, do you even remember who you’ve designated as their guardian if anything happens to you? And, even if you do remember, is your designee the same person you’d name now?
- If you have minor children, do you also have a trust to preserve their inheritance until they’re old enough to manage it themselves?
- Do you need a Testamentary Trust, which protects your assets from your beneficiaries’ creditors, failed marriages, etc.?
- Are the beneficiaries listed for your life insurance, annuities, IRAs, 401Ks, pensions, etc. the same ones you’d name now? If not, you’d better do something about it (before anything happens to you)!
- Do you have a list of your online accounts, with user names, passwords, and the answers to security questions? If not…what are you waiting for?
- Do you have a Durable General Financial Power of Attorney, to avoid having a court appoint a guardian for your children?
- If any of your family members have special needs, have you prepared a trust to ensure those needs are met?
- If you own a business, does your estate plan include provisions for the succession or sale of the business?
- What about charitable provisions? If you want to give to certain charities, you’ve got to list them, and how much you’d like each one to get. If it’s not in writing, it won’t happen!
- Do you “get” all the ramifications of the laws regarding gifting, estate and other taxes?
- Have you prepared Advance Health Care Directives and Medical Powers of Attorney and a Living Will, to make your end-of-life wishes crystal-clear…and to avoid any disputes that could shatter your family forever?
Have you taken care of all this?
If not… what are you waiting for? Are you planning to live forever?
