Estate Planning: Important Things to Do Before You Die

If you were to pass away in a freak accident, is your estate ready to be passed on to your heirs? If not, consider these lists of key elements our iWealth Advisors recommend to have resolved before moving on from this world. Completing this will be the biggest gift you can give your family so they have a map of how to handle things as they deal with immense grief.

Here Are 16 Essential Things to Do for Estate Planning Before You Die

1. Create a will or trust
2. Take inventory of your assets
3. List your debts and liabilities
4. Establish durable power of attorney
5. Set up healthcare power of attorney
6. Designate beneficiaries for accounts and policies
7. Name guardians for minor children
8. Write a letter of intent
9. Review and update beneficiary designations
10. Organize important documents
11. Verify property titles are correct
12. List money owed to you
13. Create a personal property memorandum
14. Obtain DD-214 if you’re a veteran
15. Consider purchasing insurance products (e.g., long-term care, life insurance)

Key Documents to Include

Your estate plan should contain these essential documents:

1. Will or trust
2. Durable power of attorney
3. Healthcare power of attorney
4. Beneficiary designations
5. Letter of intent
6. Guardianship designations
7. List of assets and debts
8. Personal property memorandum

Additional Considerations

1. Review and update your estate plan regularly, especially after major life changes.
2. Keep documents in a locked, fireproof, and accessible location and inform your executor of their whereabouts.
3. Consider working with an estate planning attorney to double check that all documents are legally valid and reflect your wishes.

Completing these steps and creating the necessary documents is the best gift you can leave your loved ones. It provides a clear map for them to follow and clearly spells out how you would like your assets to be distributed according to your wishes. If our iWealth team can be of assistance during your estate planning process, please reach out to us. We also have business partners we can recommend to help create some of the recommended documents, as well as work on any complex estate concerns you may have.