Estate Planning Academy Episode 15: 8 Steps to a Plan

Step 1: Education

You have already taken this step by requesting my book and watching this video series.  Hopefully by now, you understand the need for estate planning and the value it brings to your life.

Step 2: Meeting

• Schedule an appointment with a professional estate planning attorney
• Many attorneys will write an estate plan, but not a lot of us create estate plans almost exclusively
• This meeting will go over your goals for the plan
• By the end of the meeting you will have an action plan

Step 3: Homework

• This step is on you
• You will have an information packet to fill out and information to gather
  • Names and basic biography
  • Children
  • Assets
    • Retirement
    • Real estate
    • Autos
    • Life Insurance
    • …
  • Debts
  • Who do you want to fill the roles in your plan
    • Successor Trustee (Trust Manager)
    • Executor
    • Attorney-in-fact (for your Power of Attorney)
    • Healthcare attorney-in-fact (for you healthcare Power of Attorney)

Step 4: Review Homework with Planner

Schedule an appointment and go over your homework with your planner.

Step 5: Draft Documents

The attorney will draft the documents and send them to you for review and approval.

Step 6: Approve Drafts

You read through and approve the drafts.  Check them for proper spelling of names and correct birth dates.

Step 7: Signing

Sign the documents to bring them to life. Do the initial funding of your trust.

Step 8: Final Funding

Perform the final funding of your Trust if not done by the planner.