Estate Planning Checklist

Estate planning allows you to ensure your assets and family are protected in the event of your death or ill health. This guide will give you the estate planning tips you need to create a thorough estate plan that protects your assets. 

What is estate planning?

Estate planning is more than just a will. It allows you to specify who can make decisions on your behalf, who will take care of your dependents and will help you avoid unnecessary taxes and waiting periods. It will also determine how money, property, medical care, dependent care and much more will be dealt with during your lifetime after you pass away. 

Benefits of estate planning

There are a range of benefits to will estate planning, such as:

• They give you control over your assets - Estate planning gives you control over how your assets are distributed upon your death and on certain occasions during your lifetime
• It allows you to avoid intestacy - Intestacy is when a person dies without a valid will, meaning their property is shared based on certain rules. This means your estate may not be handled the way you would like it to be. 
• They protect vulnerable beneficiaries - If your beneficiaries are classed as vulnerable due to them being minors or having a disability, estate planning can be used to create a trust to manage the beneficiaries inheritance until they’re able to manage them responsibly. 
• It ensures smooth transitions of ownership - For business owners estate planning can ensure the ownership of their business is transitioned smoothly.
• It provides peace of mind - Estate planning can give you the piece of mind needed to know that your assets and family are looked after.

Estate planning checklist  

Make note of your assets

When planning your estate it’s important that you make note of all your assets to ensure they’re all included in your estate plan. You should write down both your tangible and intangible assets. These could include:

Tangible assets 

• Any vehicles you own.
• Your furniture.
• Your jewellery. 
• Any properties you own.
• Any other physical assets of value. 

Intangible assets 

• Your bank accounts.
• Your retirement accounts.
• Your life insurance plans.
• Any financial elements, such as bonds.
• Any other non physical assets you own.

Understanding the liabilities you have like your mortgage or debts is also important as some debts will need to be paid off, even after death and will come out of your estate.

Create a list of your family members 

Writing down a list of your immediate family members and dependants will allow you to plan the distribution of your estate in a way that looks after them. This can be especially helpful if you have dependents as it will focus your mind on who may be suitable to act as their guardians. 

Determine the directives you would like to put in place

When you plan ahead it relieves some of the stress that occurs during illness or after death. Deciding your directives early on will also help reduce stress. Once these decisions have been made you should discuss it with who you’re considering as naming an Executor or Attorney. You can also name replacements in the event that your first choice is unavailable.

Choose your beneficiaries 

A beneficiary is a person or institution that inherits a part of your estate. This could be your estate, money, physical property or a control of or interest in a business. 

It’s crucial that when adding your beneficiaries to your will that their names match to ensure there’s no confusion. You can also determine backup beneficiaries in case someone is unavailable or dies prior to the estate being distributed. 

Beneficiaries can also be named in a ‘residuary’ clause within your will where they will inherit anything left over after your estate has been distributed.  

Identify estate planning lawyers 

Once you’ve completed the steps above you can start to look for an estate planning solicitor to help you. 

At Wright Hassall, our team of Estate Planning Lawyers are here to help you create an estate plan that will deliver your wishes smoothly and ensure your assets and loved ones are looked after. 

Whether you have a simple or complex estate our solicitors are experienced in providing tailored advice on tax-efficient estate planning.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can support you.