By assembling the proper estate planning documents, you can minimize the burden on your family during an already difficult time and provide them with a clear roadmap for handling your affairs. It is about ensuring that your wishes are respected, your loved ones are taken care of, and potential conflicts are avoided. Preparing estate planning documents is not just about distributing assets. Establishing and then maintaining a proper estate plan is an essential aspect of a cohesive, well-thought out financial plan. Understand this: if you have a financial plan, you have an estate.

Or maybe it’s because the legal jargon incorporated into estate planning documents can be intimidating. Perhaps estate planning and wills evoke the thought of incapacity or death, and this is simply too much to contemplate.

Many other individuals recognize that everyone needs some kind of estate plan, but avoid establishing one. In fact, no matter your net worth, once you die, everything you own is considered part of the estate you leave behind. Estate planning is often seen as a task reserved for the wealthy. Some people don’t believe they have an “estate,” and therefore, don’t need to create a plan. The collection of these documents together is called an Estate Plan. What Estate Planning Documents Do I Need? Įstate planning documents specify how you want your assets distributed upon incapacity or death.

Estate planning checklist 2018