Complete estate planning checklist how to#

The details – music, videos, food, decor, readings.

The people – attendees, speakers, pallbearers, etc.

The type of event – church, secular, memorial, wake, celebration.

Think of it as one last event on your terms, so you get to decide what happens at your funeral. It’s not morbid to make these plans yourself. We encourage you to make these plans so your loved ones don’t have to, so they can simply focus on mourning your loss.

Funeral arrangements – how you want people to commemorate your life.

Bodily remains – burial, cremation, or green.

Obituary – reflections on your life and whether you want them shared.Who’s in charge – a person who can handle the details.Write Your End-of-Life PlanĪ crucial part of any estate planning checklist, you should also determine what you want to happen after you pass away. Guardians – the person or people who will care for your minor child(ren), pets, and moreĭepending upon your situation, you can choose a single person for all of these roles, but we do recommend spreading the responsibility so that one person doesn’t bear all the stress.Medical care directive – the person who makes the healthcare decisions.Durable power of attorney – the person who controls your finances, pays your bills, and conducts the business of everyday life.Choose Who’s in ChargeĪs a follow-up to the living will you created earlier, you must also decide the people who will help you if you become incapacitated. It’s essential that you account for your digital activity so your loved ones don’t have to repeatedly prove your passing to companies in hopes of gaining control over your accounts. Streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu, etc.).Social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).You need to create very specific steps and protocols for what should happen to your online life after you die, especially regarding items such as: While not everyone communicates with people on social media, nearly everyone has a digital presence of some sort, such as an email account. In short, the advanced directive tells people what you want to happen if you can’t tell them yourself. Documents – keep these in a single location so your representative can find them.POLST – “physician orders for life-sustaining treatment” detail specific treatments to all medical providers.DNR – “do not resuscitate” orders that give direction to any emergency healthcare providers.If you develop a serious illness or life-threatening condition, you should speak with your primary healthcare provider(s) about:.

For example: If you have a medical event that requires life support or other intervention, do you want to receive CPR or be on a ventilator?.Who you want to make medical decisions if you can’t communicate.While your last will and testament dictate what happens after you die, an advanced directive (also called a living will) details what you want to happen when you’re still alive but unable to make decisions for yourself. If you haven’t created a will yet, The Postage is an excellent way to create an attorney-approved will fast and affordably. Instead of leaving behind an unorganized collection of materials, your goal should be to make sense of your life on your terms. Executor – the person in charge of the distribution.Trusts – the arrangements for how you will distribute what you leave behind.Beneficiaries – the people who receive what you leave behind.Debts – what you owe against your assets.Financial Assets – stocks, retirement accounts, investments, etc.Physical Assets – real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, valuables, etc.Everyone needs to create a will so your loved ones know what to do with your possessions.Īt a minimum, you must account for the following: That’s just not the case for most people. When most people think of a last will and testament, they imagine formal proceedings in a lawyer’s office where family members are read aloud their inheritances from their late grandmother who was rich in pearls, jewels, and property. With this checklist for estate planning, you will have a clear plan of action that puts you in charge of your life.

Complete estate planning checklist how to#

If you want to know how to begin planning your estate, we recommend following these nine steps. You must collect important paperwork, make some essential choices, and plan for the details you might not want to think about, like the possibility of passing away unexpectedly. Let’s not sugarcoat things: effective estate planning involves thinking about the future in ways that might be uncomfortable. How to Prepare the Essential Information, Permissions, and Documents of Estate Planning With this estate planning checklist from The Postage, you can better prepare for the future and take charge of the present by gathering necessary information now rather than later. No matter your age, income, or status in life, you need a plan of action if something happens to you.