8 Documents You Need in Your Estate Plan
What you need in your Estate Plan from California Estate Planning Attorney, Gary Quackenbush of GQ Law.
What exactly is a “complete Estate Plan”? You’ve probably been told to get a Will or a set up an Estate Plan at one point or another in you adult life but what exactly does that mean? Here is our quick list of the 8 most important documents to have in your Estate Plan.
1 – Living Trust
The first thing you need in your estate plan is a Trust. Every good Estate Plan needs a Trust at its core. The Trust is what gives the instructions to the Trustee, the person managing your stuff after you die. These instructions allow them to provide for the care and maintenance of the beneficiaries, to take care of your kids, pets, etc.
A Trust can manage distributions to beneficiaries who are not old enough or mature enough to handle the inherited money. That means a Trust can detail how much of the inheritance your kids get to start and when they get the rest.
2 – Trust Certification
Every bank and investment manager will want to see your Trust Certification therefore, you really need to have one in your Estate Plan. The Certification gives the bank all it needs to provide services to the Trust.
3 – Will
Another really important document you need in your Estate Plan is a Will. A Will helps put money and assets into the Trust in case there happens to be a problem with trust funding.
4 – Guardian Designation
A Guardian Designation is a document that helps provide safety and security in an otherwise chaotic situation. It is through this document that you can decide what will happen to your kids if you should die. Since the document can handle more than one child, each minor needs to be listed individually. This critical document is most definitely needed in your estate plan.
5 – Powers of Attorney
Another essential document, at Power of Attorney, assigns and allows others to help out in a situation where you can not do it alone.
6 – Deed to Transfer for Your Home
A Deed Transfer for your home is very important. Without transferring assets, like your home, into the Trust, the Trust itself it is invalid.
7 – Life Insurance
Life insurance is a super affordable way to greatly increase the size of your estate. Therefore, adding life insurance to your Estate Plan will help leave more to your heirs.
8 – Health Care Directive
Without it, the Doctor may not have anyone to make decisions for you. A healthcare Directive is also something you need in your estate plan.
This information is not a substitute for legal advice from an Estate Planning professional. Please contact my office if you are ready to set up an Estate Plan so my team and I can to help you.