Trying to handle your estate planning on your own can be quite overwhelming. With so many moving parts and documents to keep track of, it’s easy to get lost in the paperwork and worry about whether you’re making the best decisions for you, your family, and your loved ones.

Here are some tips for setting up a secure plan for the future.

Communication is Key

Too many people feel the need to keep their estate planning processes private. While you probably don’t want to disclose the exact worth of your estate with many people, you should have open discussions with those who you plan to name as executors, beneficiaries, administrators, agents, etc., about where your documents are located and what their responsibilities will be. The last thing you want is for any of these people to be blindsided with the responsibility of handling your estate without warning.

Know Your People

Choosing who to designate as your executor, administrator, and agent requires you to think long and hard about:

1. Who you can trust to act honestly and responsibly
2. Who has the financial understanding to make wise decisions on your behalf
3. Who realistically has the capacity to manage your estate given their own life circumstances

Don’t just assume these roles have to go to the people closest to you like your spouse, sibling, parents, etc. Really evaluate which person (or corporation) would be the best fit for each responsibility.

Stay Up-To-Date

As a general rule of thumb, you should update your estate plan as your personal life changes AND as tax laws change. It’s pretty well known that you should revisit these documents as you acquire assets, get married or divorced, have children, change careers, lose parents or other loved ones, etc., but it’s also important to do so when new tax bills are passed, interest rates change, new Presidents are elected… 

You can find more information about when to update your estate plan here. 

Estate Planning with Lefkoff-Duncan

Are you ready to create or update your estate plan? Lefkoff-Duncan is here to help. Our experienced team will assist you in all of your estate planning endeavors so that you’ll never again need to wonder if you’ve done enough to take care of the ones you love. Contact us today to get started.