In with the new… Your Estate Planning Checklist for 2023

As we come to the end of another year, it’s time to look back and reflect on what we’ve accomplished. We should also reflect on the areas where we could do better. To that end, here’s a quick estate planning review for the old year that will help us keep pace with the new.

(1) Do you have an Estate plan? Let’s start with whether you’ve got a plan for your family and affairs. If you do, wonderful. Now it’s time to see if it needs updating. If you don’t, you’ve got a few choices: do nothing and let the government insert itself into your affairs and give you the one-size-fits-all (it doesn’t) estate plan or do something about it. It’s easier than you think to create a plan for your family and the administration of your estate.

(2) Have you revised your Estate plan? Are the distributions up to date in your Will or Trust? If your family has gone through changes like birth, death, divorce, and marriage this might affect the beneficiary distributions in your will or trust.

(3) Are your fiduciaries up to date? You appoint your fiduciaries as your representatives to make decisions for you. Are these folks still the same people you want in charge of making those decisions?

(4) Are your Health Care Documents current? Have you updated your Health Care Power of Attorney since the federal HIPPA rules took effect? If not, you’ll need to do so to make sure they’re in compliance with the HIPPA rules. Double check your health care documents for HIPPA language, it can be missing no matter when they were signed so check to make sure.

(5) How old is your Financial Power of Attorney? Not infrequently banks and other financial institutions are hesitant to accept older financial powers of attorney because of liability risks. Have an up-to-date financial power of attorney drafted and available to avoid the risk of having a stale document that won’t be honored.

(6) Double-check your Beneficiary Designations. When you do your estate plan check your beneficiary designations on your other accounts – life insurance, annuities, all retirement accounts, etc. If you’ve got conflicting designations in your estate plan versus your other accounts, the designations on those other accounts may overrule any provisions you have in your Will or Trust.

(7) Is your Trust fully funded? One reason to get a Trust is to avoid probate. That won’t happen unless your assets are titled in the name of your trust. Be sure you’ve transferred the right assets to your trust for easy administration during your lifetime and after you’re gone.

(8) What about a Digital Estate Plan? Do you have the right document in place so your representative has access to correctly dispose of your digital assets and your social media content?

(9) Are your assets correctly titled? Title issues can greatly impact estate planning – in some cases a title can directly contradict your estate plan. Do you hold property as a joint tenant, a tenant in common, or corporate ownership, for example?

(10) Do you have a Personal Property Memorandum? In an earlier column I mentioned family feuds over who gets Grandma’s sugar bowl. Don’t let this happen to your family. Make your plan clear.

If I can help with any of the above, reach out and let’s make 2023 great for your family and for you! Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season and a prosperous and peaceful new year.