As your assets grow, trusts may become a more important tool to protect generational wealth. As each year comes to a close, our life changes. Have you reviewed your will Reviewing your will as part of your year-end estate planning checkup is essential. Would you like to keep personal decisions regarding your estate out of the courts and public record? If so, confirm that you have documentation in place to distribute and manage assets during your lifetime in a way that also avoids probate after your death.ĭiscuss your wishes and the benefits of various types of trusts with your estate planning attorney. Here is an eight-step year-end estate planning checklist to help you organize and prioritize your estate planning strategy. Should you fund the trust now in an effort to avoid probate for the assets and potentially make administration less costly? FreeWill is built alongside will making experts. It is a simple online legal will maker that helps you compile will forms to print and sign, or to take as a basic will template to an estate planning lawyer. Identify any potential risks you want to plan around before and after your death, such as divorce. FreeWill lets you make your last will and testament quick, easy, and completely free. Create a list of all your personal assets, as well as other assets that form your estate, such as trusts, stocks or life insurance. Here is an estate planning checklist of items every estate plan should include: Will/trust Durable power of attorney Beneficiary designations Letter of intent Healthcare power of attorney. Would you like to name an attorney, accountant, bank, or trust company as the trustee? The estate planning process can be broken down into a few simple steps: Take stock of your assets.

What other parameters would you like to put in place? Estate planning documents are the cornerstone of your plan. Review how you’ve set up the trust and make adjustments in alignment with your wishes.ĭo you want beneficiaries to receive assets outright, or would you rather set up income streams or distributions at intervals?Īre your beneficiaries young? If so, do you need to put measures in place to hold the assets until they are old enough to be more responsible? To truly pass on generational wealth, along with your wisdom and values, youll want an estate plan that lays it all out. Confirm that you’ve identified a trustee and that you would still like this person to serve as trustee after your passing.

Estate plan essentials checklist