A new year offers a fresh start on your personal goals and resolutions. It is also the perfect time to review your estate plan and ensure that it accurately reflects your wishes and current circumstances.
When surveying your estate plan, make sure to look at the following:
- Wills and Trusts: Review your will or living trust for any life change, such as a birth, death, marriage or a move to a different state.
- Beneficiary Designations: Remove any beneficiary on your life insurance or retirement plan who is deceased or is a former spouse, and consider adding a charitable organization such as Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF).
- Durable Power of Attorney: Make sure your durable powers of attorney for financial and health care are current. A copy of the financial power of attorney should be given to your family members, while a copy of your health care power of attorney should be provided to both family members and health care providers.
- Safe-Deposit Box: Catalog the contents of your safe-deposit box. Give a written copy to a trusted family member and note any items you are holding for someone else.
- Bank or Brokerage Accounts: Name heirs or a charitable organization as recipients of your bank or brokerage account proceeds at your death.*
- Charitable Contributions: If you’ve included a gift to TPWF in your estate plan, please let us know. This will help ensure that your wishes are carried out after your lifetime.
Don’t Have an Estate Plan?
It is never too late to plan for the future. Contact us for more information on how you can create an estate plan that provides for you and for the charitable causes you care about.
