An estate plan helps you care for the people and causes that matter to you. It documents your wishes and gives loved ones guidance for the future. It also addresses decisions during your lifetime. These include who can manage your finances or make health care decisions if you cannot.
During National Estate Planning Awareness Week, I encourage you to take a first step or revisit the plans you already have.
Ready to get organized? Download CRI’s free Estate Planning Guide for planning steps and worksheets to help you prepare.
Two Common Hurdles to Getting Started with Estate Planning
Even when we understand the value of estate planning, taking the first step can be difficult. Two common concerns may feel familiar:
“I don’t have enough to need an estate plan.”
The value of a plan goes beyond the value of your assets. A home, retirement savings, or belongings with personal meaning are all worth considering.
It is important to realize that your plan also addresses decisions beyond your possessions: Who would manage your finances if you could not? Who would make health care decisions on your behalf? Who would take care of your children or pets?
Documenting your wishes gives the people you trust clearer guidance. It can also help reduce uncertainty for loved ones during an already difficult time.
“It feels overwhelming. I don’t know where to start.”
Planning for the future can bring up difficult questions. You do not need to answer them all at once. It is easiest to get started by taking a few manageable steps:
- Gather what you have: Locate existing planning documents and make a list of your accounts and property.
- Think about your priorities: Consider the people and causes you want your plan to reflect.
- Write down your questions: Identify what you would like to discuss with loved ones or an advisor.
You do not have to tackle this all on your own. I’m thrilled to share CRI’s Estate Planning Guide, which includes worksheets to help you organize family details, financial information, and personal wishes.
What Documents Make Up an Estate Plan?
Your circumstances will determine which documents are appropriate. Here are some common elements of an estate plan that you might consider and prepare:
- Will: Provides instructions for distributing assets covered by the will after your death. It can also name an executor to administer your estate and nominate a guardian for minor children.
- Revocable Living Trust (RLT): Can serve as the primary document for distributing your property after your death. You retain control and can generally change or revoke it during your lifetime. Assets transferred into the trust can pass to beneficiaries outside probate, potentially reducing probate costs and helping preserve privacy.
- Beneficiary Designations: Identifies who receives assets such as retirement accounts and life insurance proceeds. These generally operate separately from your will or trust, and should be coordinated with your overall plan.
- Power of Attorney (POA) for Financial Matters: Authorizes someone to handle specified financial matters for you. That authority can continue if you become incapacitated.
- Health Care Power of Attorney (HCPOA): Appoints someone to make medical treatment decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.
- Health Care Directives: Documents your treatment preferences and name someone to make medical decisions if you cannot. Document names and requirements vary by state.
I highly recommend reviewing your plan periodically and after significant life changes. These may include changes in your family, finances, employment, health, or where you live.
Planning for the People and Causes You Care About
As you consider these decisions, start with the people you want to provide for and the wishes you want to make clear. You may also want to remember causes that have been meaningful in your life.
If cancer research is one of those causes, including CRI in your plans is one way to carry that commitment forward. A future gift can help advance immunotherapy research toward better treatments for patients.
If you would like to explore what that could look like, I’m happy to answer your questions.
Take the First Step
You don’t need to have everything figured out to get started. Our free Estate Planning Guide can help you:
- Gather family and financial information in one place.
- Think about whom you trust to handle important decisions.
- Record your wishes for loved ones and causes you care about.
- Prepare for a conversation with your attorney.
Download Your Free Estate Planning Guide
FAQs
Yes. Regardless of the size of your estate, you want to ensure that what you have will go to those you love and care for and that your wishes are carried out.
An estate plan also grants a power of attorney for financial and health matters should you become incapacitated and states your desires regarding medical care. These documents become a last expression of what you have valued in your life, indicated through a personal statement and by what you leave to whom. By being thoughtful and organized about your affairs, you will have left a final, loving gift to your family and organizations you care about.
Yes. Estate planning is a complex area of the law, and it is unwise to rely on a one-size fits-all solution. This is especially true when you have a combined family. While there is a cost involved in preparing your plan, it is modest compared to the value of having appropriate arrangements for your family, minimizing probate fees and costs, and possibly saving state and federal estate taxes.
A complete estate plan consists of a will or revocable trust, financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney and a living will. Not everyone will want or need each of these, however, so you should work with your lawyer to determine which documents will be most suited to meet your goals.
It is a good idea to update your plan every few years. Some people have an annual check-up with their attorney. Certainly whenever there is a significant event in your life, such as the birth of a child or grandchild, sale of a business, retirement, or passing of a spouse or other loved one, you should review your plan for necessary changes.
If your plan is current, it is easy to make a change or two, such as adding a charitable beneficiary. Your attorney can prepare an amendment to your will (called a “codicil”) or to your revocable living trust. Many times, this can be done quickly and involves only one or two pages added to your existing will or revocable living trust.
