Death. It’s a part of life. However, we don’t have to leave our surviving family members with an unorganized estate. Although estate planning sounds daunting and boring, an organized estate plan will also ensure that your wishes are carried out. And while it may take some time to create a proper and thorough estate plan, it will save your family members a lot of time, stress and grief in the future once you pass.
Here’s a brief estate planning checklist to ensure that you have your entire estate in proper order before your death:
- Create a revocable living trust. This type of trust will ensure that you are in control of your finances while you are living and that your heirs will avoid probate. This trust is easily managed and changes can be made at any time. You designate an individual to be the successor trustee and this person will continue to carry out your wishes once you die.
- Be sure to fund your revocable living trust. The items that would need to be put into your living trust would include all non-retirement accounts, savings accounts, as well as your home.
- Create a living will. Yes, a trust differs from a will. A trust will ensure your primary assets avoid probate while a living will documents how you wish for your other possessions to be disbursed among heirs. Anything that you cherish should be included in the will to ensure that your family members are well aware of your wishes and to avoid any arguments and court trials.
- Double-check beneficiaries on retirement accounts. Because retirement accounts are governed by special rules, it’s important to ensure that you have the proper beneficiary listed on each account. The reason for this is that no matter what is stated in your will, the beneficiary form attached to your retirement account will be the legal document.
When creating your own estate planning checklist, you want to ensure that you adequately communicate your dying wishes, protect your surviving family, reducing estate and income taxes and protecting any business that you may have.
If you still feel as though you are clueless when it comes to estate planning or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Phocus Companies, a company that proudly delivers estate planning advice and information to the entire Phoenix area.
