Creating an estate plan is one of the most important things you might ever do in your lifetime. But very surprisingly, a lot of people aren’t doing it.
Caring.com says that in 2025, only 24% of people have a will. That’s somewhat shocking given how important estate planning is.
If you’re going to create an estate plan, though, then it’s very important to do it correctly. With that in mind, here are a few tasks you should not overlook in the course of putting your estate plan in place.
1. Creating a living trust
Some folks opt to use a will to pass along an inheritance instead of using a living trust. In some cases, a will may be less expensive and complex to set up. However, for many, there’s a big benefit to using a living trust to pass along an inheritance, and it’s that your loved ones may be able to avoid probate.
Probate is a legal process that wills generally have to go through for validation. And it can be extremely stressful, costly, and time-consuming for the people you care about.
If you want your loved ones to be able to collect their inheritance as quickly and seamlessly as possible, then it will often pay to use a living trust. If you’re not sure how a living trust works, a qualified and experioenced estate planning attorney can walk you through all of the necessary steps.
2. Making a list of your financial accounts
If you pass away, your loved ones may not know what financial accounts you held. That means they may miss out on assets that they’re entitled to.
It’s important to make a comprehensive list of your financial accounts as part of the estate planning process. List everything from bank accounts to 401(k) plans to life insurance policies you’ve taken out. And also include the account numbers and institutions where each set of assets is being held so that your loved ones do not have to go on a wild goose chase hunting everything down.
3. Updating beneficiaries on all of your accounts
You don’t always need to use a will or a trust to pass along certain assets. Some types of accounts let you designate a beneficiary, or multiple beneficiaries, for a seamless transfer of assets.
It’s important to go through your list of accounts and make sure that each one’s beneficiary information is up to date. On your financial accounts, this is called a TOD (transfer on death) or POD (pay on death) beneficiary.
While they can be useful, such beneficiaries do not address all important issues. For example, a POD or TOD account are of no use if you become incapacitated as they only come into play when you you die. Also, use of these accounts may cause problems if the named beneficiary has special challenges, e.g., a minor, a disabled person receiving certain public benefits, substance abuse problems, etc.
4. Giving your loved ones access to your social media accounts
If you use social media, you’re in good company. But you may want to make it so that your loved ones can get into your accounts after you’re gone and shut down whichever accounts they no longer want running. Social media could also be a good way for your loved ones to reach your network and inform them of funeral information, but they won’t be able to do that without accessing your accounts.
Create a file for a trusted family member that gives them login and password details. Some platforms do allow you to designate someone to access your accounts after you pass away, so it pays to look into these as well.
Also, you never know when a criminal might hack into your social media account. If that happens and you’re not alive, it could cause your loves ones a lot of anguish, and that is definitely not something you want.
Many people tend to focus on the financial aspects of estate planning, which is certainly important. But it’s also essential to think about the non-financial tasks you need to check off your list.
5. Outlining your wishes for a funeral
If you don’t tell your loved ones what type of final services you wish to have, they won’t have a way to honor your final wishes. Write a letter outlining what sort of service you want. You may want religious components, or you may specifically not want any sort of religious component whatsoever. You may want certain songs played, or a certain poem or passage recited.
You may also have prepaid for a funeral, cremation or burial plot. This is information you must make available to your loved ones. You don’t want them scrambling to make arrangements when you’ve already done the legwork ahead of time.
At our firm, we understand that estate planning involves many different aspects. We also recognize that each person’s estate planning needs are unique. We’re here to guide you every step of the way and to help you put an estate plan in place that gives you the peace of mind you deserve. Contact our office today for a free initial consultation or give us a call at (916) 437-3500 to discuss your estate planning needs and see how we can be of help.
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