- Legal EditorHenry Dahut, J.D.
Henry Dahut, J.D.
Attorney - Legal Publisher - Educator
Henry Dahut is a licensed California trial attorney. Over the course of his 25-plus years practicing law, Henry has represented and counseled countless clients in legal trouble.
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Keeping Your Estate Plan Current
Unsurprisingly, your estate planning should include preparing or updating a will and trust. These and other essential tasks are discussed below. If you have other concerns, contact an estate planning attorney in your area.
Update Your Will or Trust Regularly
The last will and testament permit you to determine what happens to your real and personal property when you die and if you have minor children, who should be appointed their guardian. Without a will or estate planning, state laws and the courts will make these decisions.
Wills should be reviewed at least every five years and upon any significant change in your family situation (e.g., marriage, the birth of a child, death of a close relative, and the like).
Consider establishing a living trust
In estate planning, property placed in a “living trust” during your lifetime can pass to your loved ones immediately upon your death – without incurring the additional costs usually associated with the probate process.
Furthermore, using a trust will give you much greater flexibility in planning how and when your beneficiaries will enjoy your property.
For example, you could establish a trust that would provide you and your spouse with income for the rest of your lives, with the trust property passing to your children (or to any other persons you chose) after the death of both of you.
Give certain people copies of your will
Keep in mind that, in many states, safe deposit boxes are often sealed at the time of death and are not opened until the bank receives letters from the probate court.
Therefore it is probably best to leave the original of your will with your estate planning attorney and keep only a copy in your safe deposit box.
It is also wise to give another copy of your choice and other important documents to the person you named in your will as your executor or to another trusted friend or relative.
Draft a “letter of instructions” for your survivors
This letter should spell out your funeral wishes, including what kind of a funeral or memorial service you desire, what you wish to happen to your remains, and, if you choose to be buried, where you want to be buried.
Some people even specify what music they want to be played at their funeral.
Your letter of instructions should also list the people to be contacted immediately after your death, their addresses and telephone numbers, and where your will and other vital papers can be found.
Consider Funeral Preplanning
Some people prepay for their funerals, while others pick out their caskets at the funeral home and do all the detailed work ahead of time.
Preplanning can relieve the added pressure on your loves while maintaining control over the ultimate costs and details of your funeral.
After your home, car, and formal wedding, the typical funeral ranks as the fourth most significant expense you will likely incur.
Today, depending on where you reside, an average funeral costs from $5,000 to $10,000. Direct cremations will generally cost less than $2,000.
Locate an estate planning attorney
Should you further questions consider consulting with a verified estate and trust planning attorney online.
