Estate Planning: 7 Things You Must Do Before You Pass Away

We invest so much of our hard-earned money in businesses like commercial real estate after going through all the tips of maximizing the profits from such investments.

We then use those profits to build our estate, ranging from our houses to cars to furniture to basically every valuable we possess. But, all of our estate remains in this world, as we cannot take anything with us when we bid this world goodbye.

Therefore, it is both our right and duty to distribute our hard-earned assets among our loved ones according to their valid needs. For this, we will need the services of a competent attorney like Hollywood park, TX estate planning attorneys, who will help us in making the estate plan.

The importance of estate planning cannot be emphasized enough, therefore, we have discussed here seven things you must do during the process of estate planning, so that nothing important is missed out.

Enlist everything you have:

Firstly, explore the insides and outsides of your home meticulously, and enlist very tangible possession that is valuable enough to be put into the inventory list. The list may include things like cars, art collections, electrical appliances, jewelry, lawn equipment, and the house itself.

Moreover, you must also include your non-tangible assets which you own on paper like bank accounts, brokerage accounts, IRAs, savings accounts, life insurance policies and health policies. Lastly, as you make the list, you can also add little notes if someone comes to mind whom you would want to have a particular piece of your possession.

Make a list of debts and memberships:

Once you are done itemizing the inventory, make the list of all of your debt obligations including open credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit). Do not forget to add the locations of all the contracts and documents associated with each debt obligation, so that your beneficiaries are able to access these documents when you pass away.

It is also important to make a list of your memberships of organizations like AARP and The American Legion because some organizations may offer life insurance benefits at no cost.

Draft a comprehensive will:

Drafting a comprehensive will is vital because it essentially serves as the rulebook for the distribution of your assets, and its absence can wreak havoc among your heirs. Other than the assignment of assets, it may also include details like designating a guardian for your minor beneficiaries.

It is a fairly inexpensive legal document that you can fill with the help of a lawyer or by using online resources. Make sure that your beneficiaries know about the location of will so that they can access the document when required.

Check out Trust and Will If you’re looking for a more affordable, convenient and easier option for estate planning than traditional means of working with an attorney.

Select a responsible administrator:

Selecting a responsible administrator is crucial for the successful execution of the estate plan because if you end up with someone who is indecisive, he will not be able to make decisions on his own. Moreover, you will also have to visualize the impact your death will have on that nominated administrator.

Make sure that you end up with someone who has the emotional stability to make pragmatic decisions even after hearing the news of your death.

Update your documents regularly:

Once you create an estate plan, it is not set in stone as you have the allowance to amend it as per your liking. In fact, it is vital that you review all the documents regularly, and consider if there has been any major life event that has changed the family dynamics.

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