The one evening estate planning checklist
Everything a household needs, in the order it is worth doing, with the parts you can genuinely skip marked as skippable.
Most estate planning advice is a list of everything that exists, which is why people read it and do nothing. This is the same subject ordered by what actually moves your position, so you can stop at any point and still be further ahead than when you started.
One: name a guardian, if you have children
If anybody under eighteen depends on you, this is the highest value twenty minutes available to you and it can only be recorded in a will. Name a guardian, name an alternate, ask them both first.
If you have no children under eighteen, skip straight to two.
Two: sign a will
Who receives what, who administers the estate, and an alternate for every role. Percentages rather than amounts, so it ages well.
Then execute it properly: the right number of witnesses for your state, nobody who benefits acting as a witness, and a self proving affidavit where your state offers one.
Three: both powers of attorney
Ten minutes each, and they cover the period no will reaches: alive, and unable to act. Financial for money and property, medical for healthcare, with a copy to each agent.
Skippable only if you already have current ones. They are not skippable because you are young.
Four: check your beneficiary designations
Every retirement account and every policy. These pass outside your will, so a form from a previous decade quietly overrides everything you just signed. Correct the primary, add a secondary, and do not name a minor to receive money outright.
Fifteen minutes, no fee, and the highest ratio of consequence to effort on this list.
Five: a trust, if property is involved
Own a home, own property in more than one state, or want to control when children receive money: a revocable living trust earns its place, with its pour over will.
Genuinely skippable if you rent and your finances are straightforward. An unfunded trust is worse than no trust, so only start one you will actually fund.
Six: tell somebody where it all is
The best plan in the world fails if it cannot be found. Your executor should know they are named and where the signed original is. Your healthcare agent should have a copy of the directive, not a description of it.
Then put a date in the calendar for two years from now, and revisit after any birth, death, marriage, divorce, house move or state move in between.
Legacy Buddy provides document creation tools, not legal advice.
What to take from this
- Guardianship first if you have young children, always
- Every role needs an alternate
- Beneficiary forms beat your will, so check them
- Only start a trust you will actually fund
- A plan nobody can find is not a plan
Knowing what to do is the hard part. This is the easy part.
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