While many focus on gifts, food preparation, and welcoming in the new year during the holidays, now is also an opportune time to ensure your estate plan is current. By taking these essential steps now, protecting both yourself and your loved ones could save a great deal of future stress and anxiety.
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Holiday Estate Planning Checklist: Essential Steps for Peace of Mind
Holiday season provides an ideal time and place for families to have more relaxed estate planning conversations, with this guide to making these conversations go as smoothly as possible:
Inventory Your Assets
Holiday celebrations offer many joyous activities such as gift giving and family dinners, but they can also serve as an important opportunity to reflect upon one’s life and future plans. Therefore, the holidays offer an ideal chance to complete any estate planning tasks which may have fallen through the cracks.
One essential step in protecting yourself and preparing a will is inventorying your assets. This should include tangible possessions like cars, home furnishings and jewelry as well as an overview of financial assets such as bank accounts (checking, savings, CDs) retirement accounts and investment portfolios. It is crucial that these financial assets be listed along with current values as well as account numbers and beneficiary names; additionally it would be prudent to document digital assets like online brokerage accounts, social media profiles or blogging websites as part of this inventory process.
Refresh your asset list after major life events or changes to the law, to enable your executor and beneficiaries to manage them more efficiently, which could reduce costs and disputes between themselves.
The holidays offer an ideal opportunity to identify new family members and ensure your beneficiary designations are up-to-date. Furthermore, it gives you an opportunity to review the ages of children and grandchildren so you have an idea of who might benefit from receiving certain assets. That is one of the many reasons and a holiday checklist on why estate planning belongs at the top?
Identify Beneficiaries
While discussing estate planning may be uncomfortable around the holidays, discussing it will ultimately reduce stress and uncertainty among family members in the future. Estate documents like wills, trusts and powers of attorney can ensure loved ones will be cared for after death.
As time progresses, important life events may arise which have an effect on your estate plan. For instance, remarriage or having a child can require reviewing beneficiary designations to ensure they align with your desires. Other triggers for reviewing beneficiaries might include changes in family dynamics, death of spouse or child or new property purchases.
If your assets are held within a revocable living trust, now is also an opportune time to review its terms to ensure they align with your current goals and needs. A trust can facilitate an expedited transfer of assets directly to beneficiaries while bypassing probate in New York, saving time, money and hassle for future heirs.
If your estate will likely exceed New York state exemption threshold, it is crucial that you consult an experienced estate planning attorney regarding tax reduction strategies such as gifting or trusts that could help reduce estate taxes.
Update Your Documents
Holidays provide many families with one of their few opportunities to come together as one unit and spend quality time and make memories, but can also serve as an excellent time to discuss more sensitive subjects such as estate planning.
Estate planning documents are essential in ensuring your wishes will be honored after death or incapacitation, yet simply having them doesn’t suffice – their organization must enable loved ones to quickly locate them and follow through on them.
As your family comes together for the holidays, it would be wise to create a list of where your estate planning documents are stored and organized – this will enable your loved ones to easily locate and access these essential papers after your death and avoid confusion or disputes regarding accessing or finding them.
Establishing open and honest conversations among family members is the best way to protect your legacy for generations. Although discussing such sensitive matters can be uncomfortable during holidays, productive talks can still take place that enable loved ones to take control of their future and avoid legal battles after your passing.
If you need assistance creating or updating your estate plan documents, speak to an experienced estate planning attorney. They can guide you through the process while helping your family develop an appropriate strategy.
Organize Your Information
As the holidays near, it can be easy to become preoccupied with gift shopping, party planning and cooking large family meals – not forgetting celebrating with loved ones – that estate planning may fall to the wayside; yet this should not be ignored during this season of festivities.
After someone passes, their family must navigate a legal process known as probate, which can be both time-consuming and expensive. Although necessary for the distribution of assets properly, having an estate plan in place could save time and money by eliminating court supervision of probate proceedings, allowing property distribution on your own terms with discretion.
As one prepares to travel on vacation, it can be beneficial to review their estate planning checklist and ensure all documents are current. This can prevent an otherwise enjoyable journey from becoming an ordeal should tragedy strike or unexpected disabilities such as Alzheimer’s or dementia arise during travel. During holiday seasons it may also be useful to compile and present a checklist and key steps that a person can review with their family beforehand, making the discussion less emotional and making the process more efficient and less emotionally charged.
Conclusion: Plan Today to Protect Tomorrow
The holidays are the perfect time to reflect and prepare for your family’s future. Whether you need to update an existing estate plan or create one from scratch, our experienced team is here to help. With our personalized Peace of Mind Planning Session, we’ll review your unique situation, answer your questions, and outline a clear, flat-fee approach to achieving your goals. Typically $450, mention this article to enjoy your first session at no cost! Take the first step toward securing your legacy and ensuring your loved ones are cared for—schedule your free consultation today.