How To Set Up an Estate Plan in California
Table of Contents
- Introduction to Estate Planning
- Why Estate Planning is Crucial
- Components of an Estate Plan
– Wills and Trusts
– Power of Attorney
– Healthcare Directives
– Beneficiary Designations
– Guardianship Designations - Steps to Creating an Estate Plan
Step 1: Understand What Comprises an Estate Plan
Step 2: Inventory Your Assets
Step 3: Identify Your Goals
Step 4: Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney
Step 5: Choose Your Executors and Trustees
Step 6: Review Your Beneficiary Designations
Step 7: Legally Execute Your Estate Planning Documents
Step 8: Safeguard Your Documents
Step 9: Review and Update Regularly
Step 10: Fund Your Trust - Conclusion
Your estate is made up of everything you own, which includes your personal possessions as well as your home, a car, bank accounts, insurance, furniture and more.
But your wealth is much more than just your financial assets. It includes your purposes, passions, family values, memories and stories that make up your personal legacy. Your wealth is the culmination of tangible and intangible pieces of your life that embody who you are and how you would like to be remembered.
Why is putting an estate plan in place important? Well for starters, everyone is going to die. And if you don’t have a proactive plan in place, the state has a default plan set for you. The states plan is more expensive, more time consuming, and less effective at accurately distributing your wealth in the manner that you desire.
The purpose of estate planning is to give you the control over how your estate is distributed to the people or organizations you care about, and to preserve your legacy for the next generation and beyond.
Estate planning is also used for a number of other important things, including:
- Providing instructions for your care in case you are unable to do so;
- Naming someone to manage your financial affairs if you are unable to do so;
- Naming a guardian for your children;
- Providing for children or other family members who have special needs in a way that won’t affect government benefits, and protecting loved ones from the “incidents of life” – creditors, predators, and unnecessary taxes;
- Providing protection for your assets, both during your lifetime and after;
- Minimizing taxes and probate fees;
- Planning for retirement and long-term care costs.
How to put an estate plan together?
Step 1: Understand what comprises of an Estate Plan. Estate planning goes beyond just having a will. It also includes:
- Wills and Trusts: To direct how your assets should be distributed.
- Power of Attorney: To appoint someone to manage your affairs if you’re unable to do so.
- Healthcare Directives: To specify your wishes for medical treatment and appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf if you’re incapacitated.
- Beneficiary Designations: To ensure your retirement accounts and insurance policies are passed on as intended.
- Guardianship Designations: To appoint guardians for minor children, if applicable.
Step 2: Inventory Your Assets. List all of your assets including your real estate, bank accounts, investments, insurance policies, and personal possessions of value. This comprehensive inventory will form the foundation of your estate plan.
Step 3: Identify Your Goals. It is important to consider what you aim to achieve with your estate plan. Is generational wealth a concept that is important to you? Do you want to support a charitable cause? Do you want to make sure that your children don’t burn through their entire inheritance on fancy material items? Your goals will guide the structure of your estate plan.
Step 4: Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney at Peaceful Warrior Law. Estate planning can be complex and the laws not only vary by state, but depending on the types of assets that you own, each asset is governed by a different set of laws. It is best to have your Estate Planning Attorney coordinate with your Financial Advisor and CPA to ensure your plan is legally sound and aligns with your financial goals.
Step 5: Choose Your Executors and Trustees. The people who you select as your Executors and Trustees for your Estate Plan is crucial. Executors are the personal representatives that you select to administer the terms of your will. Trustees are the fiduciary roles you select to make the management, investment, and distribution decisions that are laid out in the terms of your trust. These decisions should not be taken lightly.
Step 6: Review Your Beneficiary Designations. Ensure that your beneficiary designations of your life insurance policies and retirement accounts are up to date with your estate planning goals and that there is no inconsistency. Be very careful when naming minor children as the beneficiary designated on any of these accounts.
Step 7: Meet with Your Estate Planning Attorney to legally execute your Estate Planning Documents. Once you have met with an Estate Planning attorney at Peaceful Warrior Law, you will have created a blueprint for your perfect estate plan, which includes a Living Trust, a Will, Financial Powers of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directives, and Guardian Nominations. You then will go back into the office with your attorney to sign and notarize these documents and discuss what is important in the next steps thereafter.
Step 8: Safeguard Your Documents. Store your estate planning documents in a safe, accessible place. Inform your Executors and Trustees, as well as your close family members about where these documents can be found. Trusts are considered private, and therefore do not get recorded anywhere. Wills become public once the person has died, but it is very important not to lose the original Will that you prepared.
Step 9: Review and Update Regularly. Life changes, such as marraige, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, changes in the law, and acquisition of new assets — can all necessitate updates to your Estate Plan. It is important to regularly review and update your plan so that your wishes are reflected at the time when you need it.
Step 10: Fund Your Trust. Arguably the most important part of your estate plan is actually retitling your assets into your Trust so your family can avoid probate court. Meet with an estate planning attorney at Peaceful Warrior Law if you need help with how to fund your trust.