If you are already thinking about an estate plan, you have overcome the first hurdle.
Taking on an estate plan is an intimidating and time-consuming thing. It is, without a doubt, worth the hassle. With the proper guidance, the process is relatively painless.
Step one, get all your ducks in a row. What are your finances? Where do you keep your assets? Who do you trust to look over your estate and execute your wishes? Keep in mind that you can change these answers along the way.
Estate plans can be amended and adjusted with little difficulty depending on what you need. When I sat down to create my own estate plan with my husband, there were a lot of questions we didn’t necessarily have readily available answers for. That’s okay! These things take time and thought. Working through the answers are easier with help, of course. That’s what an estate planning attorney is there to assist with.
What I generally recommend when asked how to begin planning is to pull up an outline of estate attorney questions about your estate. These questionnaires, though lengthy, are a fantastic starting point. I have a general questionnaire of ten pages to get interested parties moving in the correct direction. If clients have a detailed idea of what they are looking for in an estate plan, there are more advanced questionnaires to go deeper into detail.
An estate plan should always be drafted to fit your specifications and needs. If an attorney uses a copy and paste format for your estate plan, be careful of those details. Every estate is unique, and all plans need to be tailored to fit the client.