What do you think of when you hear about estate planning? Do you think it’s just about the number of assets you’ve accumulated?
Not so!
You may not need to set up a family foundation or create complex trusts to pass assets on to their beneficiaries, but everyone should take the time to do some basic estate planning.
Here are eleven basic steps to help you get started.
- Make a complete and accurate inventory of all assets and their values.
- Determine the form of ownership of each asset; understand its effect on the transfer of property at death.
- Verify beneficiary designations on life insurance policies and retirement accounts.
- Estimate the size of the estate to determine whether estate tax planning is needed.
- Decide whether certain family members or assets need special protection (minor children, those with special needs, family business).
- Select beneficiaries and determine what provisions should be made for each.
- Determine how financial and health care decisions will be made in the case of illness or disability.
- Determine how health care will be funded.
- Estimate the cost of alternative estate planning methods that will meet the goals.
- Select and implement the estate plan.
- Laws and family circumstances change. Review plan regularly.
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