Peace of mind starts with a plan.

This simple checklist helps get you organized, clarify your wishes, and make the most of your time with your estate planning attorney—so you can protect what matters most and give your loved ones peace of mind.

✅ Make a List of Your Assets -while you don’t necessarily need a detailed list of your assets to prepare your estate plan, providing a general description of your property and an overall approximate value of each category of assets can provide your attorney clarity around your estate planning.

• Bank accounts
• Investment accounts (stocks, retirement, etc.)
• Real estate, including mineral interests
• Life insurance policies
• Personal valuables (jewelry, art, autos, collectibles)
• Business interests (LLC’s, partnerships, etc.)

✅ Decide on Key People – who are the right people that will help manage your estate, personal affairs and looking after your minor children if you’re incapacitated or have passed away?

• Who will make medical decisions for you if you can’t?
• Who will handle your finances if needed?
• Who do you want to settle your estate (executor/trustee)?  Typically the surviving spouse is named as the executor, but what if you’re not married, or you die in a simultaneous accident?  Who would be the person to take care of your affairs in that case? Who would continue to manage the assets for your children until they were  capable of doing so on their own?
• Who should be guardian for minor children  (if any)?  This is where most young families get hung up on their estate planning. When you think about guardians, you should consider who will look out for the children’s emotional and physical well-being.  You can name another person to look after the financial matters for them (usually a trustee).

✅ Think About Your How Your Assets Should be Distributed at Your Death

• Who should inherit your property?
• When you think about the people receiving your property, whether it is a spouse or your children, do they have the financial capability to properly manage these assets? If not, a trust might be a suitable solution for them.
• Beyond your family, do you want to leave gifts to friends or charities?
• Is privacy surrounding your estate or your financial interests important?
• Any special instructions for your care, funeral, or memorial?

✅ Gather Important Documents

• Current will or trust (if you already have one)
• Powers of attorney (medical and financial)
• Life insurance, incentive stock options and retirement plan beneficiary forms
• If you own a business, the formation documents and any buy-sell agreements in place
• Deeds, titles, and account statements
• Any estate planning documents where you are named as a beneficiary, such as a trust created by your parents

✅ Meet with an Estate Planning Attorney

• Review your goals
• Create or update your will, trust, and powers of attorney
• Make sure your plan follows Texas law (or your state’s laws)

✅ Keep Everything Safe & Updated

• Store originals in a secure but accessible place
• Give copies to trusted family or advisors
• Review every 3–5 years or after major life events

While you may not have certain documents on hand, or thought about things like who would be the guardians foryour children or the executor of your estate, the more effort and considerationyou put into this, the smoother the estate planning process will be.

At Howell Legacy Planning, wecan help with making the entire process feel less stressful and provide youwith the framework of a plan that will provide you and your family peace ofmind knowing that you have taken care of your family’s future in astraightforward and thoughtful way.

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