SO, YOU DID YOUR ESTATE PLANNING, NOW WHAT?
If you have completed your estate planning, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have just done what 80% of your peers and family may never do! But, now that you have done your estate planning, you are probably thinking, now what? Well, here are five tips on what to do next:
- Record Any Deeds: If you did a revocable living trust as part of your estate plan, the most important thing to do next is to make sure you transfer your probate property into your Trust. One of the primary purposes for a revocable living trust is to avoid probate of your assets when you pass. And, most often, your house/real estate is your primary probate asset. So, make sure you get the deed filed and recorded with the clerk and recorder to transfer title of your house (and any other real estate) into your trust.
If you did a Will and you signed a beneficiary deed to transfer your house to your beneficiaries when you pass, you must also make sure the beneficiary deed is filed and recorded with the clerk and recorder right away.
- Change Beneficiary Designations: Whether you did a will or revocable living trust, most likely you will need to update and/or change the beneficiary designations on your bank accounts, retirement accounts and/or life insurance accounts. This is the most likely thing you will forget to do because it is tedious and requires at least a little bit of time. However, again, this is a very, very important step in the estate planning process once all of the documents are signed.
- Inform Your People: Make sure you let the people you named in your trust, will and/or powers of attorney know they are named. This should be a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people are surprised they have been named only after someone is injured or dies!
- Secure Your Documents: When you get your documents (originals, copies and electronic copies), you need to make sure you place your documents somewhere safe and secure where they will not get destroyed or damaged, like a safe, safe deposit box or a freezer. Yes, freezers work very well!
- Create and Include Your Digital Asset List: Lastly, you want to make sure your agents and family know how to access your virtual world. Broadly defined, digital assets are anything and everything held or stored in electronic format (e.g. computers, phones, tablets, and on those devices documents like Word, PDF, etc., pictures, videos, email/online accounts, and apps). Your digital asset list should have two parts: (1) a list of your devices and the pass codes to those devices; and (2) a list of your accounts, usernames and passwords. But, you need not reinvent the wheel! If you use a password manager or online spreadsheet to update your passwords, then just point your agents/family in the right direction.
Again, congratulations on thinking and planning ahead! Your family will appreciate you!