You will want to document your wishes as to the care of these children as it cannot be guaranteed that the guardian or even the courts will have the same ideas and goals in terms of child-rearing and care.

It is important to have a backup in case the primary guardian is no longer able to care for the children. This can be done by naming both a guardian and a backup guardian for these children. This also would include those whose lifestyles are dependent on dual incomes.Īnother thing that is important when planning for your family is the care of any minor children or adult children with disabilities that you may have under your care or guardianship. This should cover them financially to the point where they can continue to keep their lifestyle as they were when you were providing for them. It is recommended to look into life and disability insurance to make sure that your family can be taken care of when you are no longer able to. Planning for the welfare of your family after your death or disability is an important part of estate planning. This will help make sure that your assets will be distributed as equitably as possible amongst your heirs. For assets that cannot be accurately valued, you will want to put the value on them that the heirs of the assets would likely place on them. This can be done via outside valuations for certain assets like an appraisal of your home, or financial statements from your accounts. Once you inventory your assets, you will need to determine their value. Real estate is also one of the things that should be counted in an inventory of assets for the estate. as well as things like collectibles and items holding sentimental value. These include vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, boats, etc. While many people might not consider themselves to be wealthy with a massive estate, almost everyone has assets that can be inventoried and counted as part of your estate. Below is a checklist covering the general things to include when forming your estate plan. It is wise to have an attorney specializing in estate planning to work with you on this process, due to the often complex nature of the process.

The goals of estate planning are to avoid any hassles or confusion, reduce costs and to minimize time spent in probate court – or avoid it altogether. This is why establishing and following an estate planning checklist is extremely vital for your future. Estate planning is an essential thing everyone should do, regardless of the current value of your assets or where you’re at in life. Planning for the management, transfer and division of your estate upon your eventual death or disability is not something many people consider until it’s too late.

Checklist estate planning