Your Summer Estate Planning To-do List

Summer is a great time to get organized and take care of some important tasks that you may have been putting off. One of those tasks should be estate planning. Even if you’ve done some estate planning in the past, it’s important to review and update your plan regularly to make sure it still meets your needs.

At Margerie Law, we help people just like you with all aspects of estate planning, from creating a will to setting up a revocable living trust. We know that the process can be daunting, but we’re here to help make it as easy and stress-free as possible. Contact us today to speak to an estate planning lawyer in Brookfield and Wauwatosa.

We understand how important estate planning is, which is why we’ve put together a summer estate planning to-do list. Here are some of the most important items on that list:

Review your choice of guardian for your minor children and pets. If something has changed in your life since you last updated your estate plan, such as getting divorced or having a child, you’ll need to update your guardian designation. This is arguably the most important estate planning step for people with minor children; you don’t want the state to decide who will care for them if you pass away. You should choose someone you and they know well and who knows and respects your wishes for how you wish your children to be raised.

Look into setting up a revocable living trust. A revocable living trust can be a great way to protect your assets and ensure that they go to the people you want them to go to. Your family will be dealing with a lot after you pass away; a trust can help them avoid the dreaded probate process and can protect your assets for the benefit of your family in the future. With a trust, you can select a “trustee” to oversee the assets.

Review and update your beneficiary designations. Make sure that the people you have designated as beneficiaries on your life insurance policy, retirement account, and other assets are still the people you want to receive those assets. Things can change in people’s lives, and you may not always want the same person to benefit from your assets should you pass away. This is especially important if you’ve lost loved ones or have gotten married or divorced.

Create your digital estate plan. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start thinking about what will happen to your digital assets after you die. This includes things like social media accounts, online banking information, and email accounts. You should also create a list of accounts, usernames, and passwords, and store it somewhere safe that your personal representative knows about.

Gather and organize important documents and information. This includes things like your will, trusts, insurance policies, financial statements, and tax returns. You should also gather contact information for people who play key roles and put it somewhere your personal representative can find it – be sure to include information for your attorney, financial advisor, and guardian for minor children. Keep both hard and digital copies for yourself, and give copies to your personal representative and your estate planning attorney. Just make sure they both have the most up-to-date documents!

If you need help with any of these items on your summer estate planning to-do list, we encourage you to reach out to an experienced estate planning lawyer. At Margerie Law, we can help you with all aspects of your estate plan. Contact us today to schedule a consultation. We have offices in Wauwatosa and Brookfield, and we serve clients throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

Summer is a great time to take a step back and review your estate plan. Things can change so quickly, and it’s important to keep your estate plan up to date. If you haven’t started estate planning yet, now is a perfect time! Contact Margerie Law to get started today.