Last week I wrote about how important it is to get your estate plan in place regardless of your age: You're Young, Do You Need an Estate Plan? So once you've determined that the time is now to meet with an estate planning attorney and you set up your first appointment, what's next? You can do one of two things: (1) Simply wait for the meeting date, or (2) Get yourself organized and prepared for the meeting. Can you guess which type of prospective client I prefer to meet with?
Getting yourself organized and prepared for your first meeting with an estate planning attorney will go a long way to making the meeting more productive and valuable to both you and your attorney. Otherwise, the meeting will be like a fishing expedition for your attorney and tedious and confusing for you. Here are some tips on how to get yourself organized and prepared for your first meeting with an estate planning attorney:
- Make a complete list of your assets and liabilities. Use the Chart for Calculating Net Worth to create your list.
- Decide who you want to inherit your estate, when they'll inherit it, and how they'll inherit it. Refer to Options for Paying Minor Beneficiaries Their Inheritance and Options for Paying Adult Beneficiaries Their Inheritance for some ideas.
- Figure out who you want to be in charge of you and your property. Deciding who you want to serve as your fiduciaries is probably the most important part of putting your estate plan together. Why? Because if someone declines to serve or for legal or other reasons simply can't serve, then your estate plan will come to a grinding halt. Refer to How to Choose Fiduciaries for Your Estate Plan to help you pick the right people or institutions for the job.