An estate plan is a set of legal documents and related arrangements that explain who can act for you when you cannot make decisions and what should happen to your property after your death. People use estate plans to provide for loved ones, choose trusted decision-makers, express health care wishes, and prepare for changing care needs. This estate planning checklist walks you through the decisions your estate planning attorney will help you make, information to gather, documents to discuss, and steps to complete.
At Willis Law Group, we help New Jersey families turn those decisions into plans that fit their lives. Our firm focuses exclusively on elder law and estate planning. Founding attorney Michael Willis brings more than 25 years of experience, and our personalized initial meetings give you time to discuss your goals and questions in depth.
What Can You Address with Your Estate Plan?
An estate plan can address what happens to your property after your death and who can help with decisions during your life. It can also account for the needs of people who depend on you. Estate plans typically address:
- Who receives your property. You can choose the people or organizations you want to benefit and consider whether anyone would need help managing an inheritance.
- Who makes decisions for you. You can choose trusted people to handle financial or health care matters if you cannot make those decisions yourself.
- Who depends on you. You can plan for minor children, a loved one with a disability, or an aging spouse according to their needs.
- How future care may affect your plans. You can discuss long-term care costs and Medicaid concerns with your attorney before making gifts or changing property ownership.
You do not need to know exactly what you want to accomplish before meeting with an attorney, but your priorities give you a starting point for gathering information and discussing your options.
What Should You Gather Before Meeting with an Attorney?
Once you have identified your goals, you need to gather the information your attorney will use to create your estate plan for you. This estate planning interview checklist can help you prepare the information you will need to provide:
- People. List your spouse or partner, children, other intended beneficiaries, and people you might choose to act for you. Include contact details when available.
- Property and debts. Identify real estate, bank and investment accounts, retirement savings, life insurance, business interests, valuable personal property, mortgages, and other significant debts.
- Ownership and beneficiaries. Note whether you own property alone or with someone else. Gather the beneficiary designations on your accounts and policies.
- Existing documents. Bring any wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, deeds, and relevant agreements you already have.
Tell your attorney about property outside New Jersey, an expected inheritance, or anything you are uncertain whether to include in your list,
Estate Planning Checklist: Documents You Need
Your goals and property information help your attorney determine what you own, what you owe, and what your estate planning options are. The following estate planning documents checklist identifies common strategies your attorney may recommend as part of your estate plan:
- Will—name the people who should receive property that passes under your will, choose an executor to handle your estate, and nominate a guardian for minor children;
- Trust—set terms for how someone receives or manages property;
- Power of attorney—choose someone to handle the legal, health, or financial matters for you if you lose your ability to manage them yourself;
- Advance directive—you can use an instruction directive to record your treatment wishes if you cannot communicate them when you need care;
- Life insurance and beneficiary designations—coordinate the people you have named to receive life insurance proceeds, retirement accounts, and other accounts with beneficiaries;
- Business arrangements—if you own a business, decide who would manage it if you cannot, and what should happen to your ownership interest after your death;
- Special needs planning—if a loved one receives needs-based benefits, a special needs trust or another arrangement could provide support while accounting for those benefits; and
- Long-term care and Medicaid planning—arrange your finances and legal affairs to help you afford long-term care.
Once you and your attorney decide what to include, they prepare the documents and help you implement any account or property changes needed to carry out your choices.
How Do You Implement Your Estate Plan?
After you and your attorney settle on the plan, you may work through several steps to put it into place, including:
- Signing documents,
- Updating beneficiary designations,
- Transferring property to a trust, and
- Making documents accessible.
Your attorney’s guidance and your follow-through carry out the plan.
When Should You Review Your Estate Plan?
We typically recommend reviewing your estate plan after a:
- Marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, or death in your family;
- Move to or from New Jersey;
- Major change in your property, such as buying a home, selling a business, or receiving an inheritance;
- Change in the needs of someone you plan to support; or
- Change in your health or concerns about long-term care.
These events can affect different parts of your plan. You may want to name a new beneficiary or decision-maker after a change in your family. A new home may require an ownership change if you intend for a trust to hold it. Changes in health or care needs may call for a fresh look at the people authorized to act on your behalf and the financial arrangements you have made.
Create a Plan That Fits Your Life
If you are ready to create a comprehensive estate plan, you can begin by answering questions and making a rough list of your property. Willis Law Group can help you understand what you can do with what you own and how you can prepare for the unexpected. We guide New Jersey families through matters ranging from basic estate documents to complex elder law and Medicaid planning.
We serve clients through our Hackensack, Jersey City, Morristown, and Red Bank offices, and the same paralegal can work with you from your first call through completion of your matter. Contact usto schedule an initial meeting and begin creating a plan for the people and priorities that matter to you.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:
