Back-to-School Mode: Eight Items to Review in Your Estate Plan

Back-to-School Mode: Eight Items to Review in Your Estate Plan 

September 8, 2023

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2023

The final whistle at the outdoor pools here in Madison, Wisconsin blew earlier this week and school bells rang summoning students back to the classroom.  Whether your household runs on an academic calendar or does not, it is a good time of year to pull out your Estate Plan and complete a quick review.  Is everything up to date?

1. Do you know the location of your original will and or living trust?  If you created a plan but cannot find it, it is as though you have no plan;
2. Is your Power of Attorney for Healthcare on file with your primary care physician and hospital of record?  If not, contact their patient records department and find out how to place it on file for easy access if you are suddenly too ill to pull it out of your own files;
3. Do you have an easy access list of phone numbers for the important people to call in the event of your illness or passing?  The White Pages are not coming back to style, and tracking down people in the age of cell phones is a growing frustration;
4. Review (or created) a list of your assets and or libabilities.  Just a snapshot of what you have and where will be a tremendous help to your Power of Attorney for Finances or Personal Representative (Executor in some states);
5. Leave details on pet care for anyone who has to step in for you in a pinch -- medications given, special diet, walking/grooming routines, name of a long-term care person, etc.
6. Do your beneficiary forms say what you think they say?  In most cases, what you have written on your beneficiary form happens no matter what your will or living trust says;
7. If you are married, is your spouse listed as a co-owner on your personal residence?  This is not always the case for properties bought prior to marriage or inherited; and
8. Complete forms (state specific) stating who you wish to be in charge of a funeral/burial/cremation.  In general, a Power of Attorney for Healthcare ends when you die -- make sure the people you want acting are empowered to do so.

Remember, a blog is meant to spark thought and reflection -- it is not legal advice.  Please seek legal counsel from an attorney licensed in your state of residence.  Thanks for reading, and you can hit "follow" in the upper right hand corner to make sure you receive future posts.  Be well, and enjoy the final days of summer until the Fall Equinox arrives later in September.