Estate planning was formerly thought of as an
activity reserved solely for the wealthy.
Changes in society have led to the conclusion
that most individuals can benefit from taking
the time to prepare an estate plan, regardless
of how basic or complex the plan becomes.
Planning can save your heirs time, money and
probably some emotional pain.
The following is not designed to make an
estate plan for you but rather to teach
basic principles that should be considered as
you consider establishing or updating your own
personal plan. Hopefully you will be moved to
create a plan if you do not have one at present,
review and revise an existing plan as
appropriate, and become a better educated
consumer of professional services.
Personal Organization
Organizing your personal papers and tossing
out that which is no longer relevant is the
first step to building or revising your estate
plan. There is no simple answer to the sometimes
confusing disarray of a deceased's records; but
a lack of organization can lead to frustration
and in many cases, family disputes. Organizing
records does not have to be a complex process.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Create an inventory of your bank
accounts, IRA accounts, stock funds, etc,
insurance policies, employment benefits and
other assets. If applicable, list the contact
individual. Reduce the information to a central
document. Update the information regularly.
2. Store the supporting data for this
list in a single location if possible or
indicate on the list where the data can be
found. If you store your data on a computer,
make certain a back up disk is stored in a
different location in the event of fire or other
disaster.
3. Tell someone where the papers and
records are kept. It does not mean you have to
tell them what assets you hold or their value
but someone should know where they would find
your important papers if the need arises.
4. Weed out papers that are not longer
relevant. Nothing is more frustrating than
trying to track down accounts that were closed
ten years in the past.