Estate Planning Checklist: 12 Steps to Get Your Plan in Order

Step 1: Take Inventory of Your Assets

You cannot build a working estate plan without knowing what you own. Start by creating a full asset inventory that includes: checking and savings accounts (with account numbers and institution names), retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, pensions), taxable investment accounts, real estate (with deed information), life insurance policies (with policy numbers, insurer, and death benefit amount), vehicles and titled property, business interests, and valuable personal property such as jewelry or collectibles.

Also write down your liabilities: mortgages, car loans, credit card balances, student loans, and any other major debts. This gives your executor a clear picture of the estate they will administer. Store this inventory somewhere accessible. Do not lock it in a safe-deposit box where your family cannot find it in an emergency.

Step 2: Name an Executor

Your executor (called a personal representative in some states) is the person responsible for settling your estate: locating and securing assets, notifying creditors, paying debts, filing your final tax return, and distributing assets to beneficiaries. For a full breakdown of what this role entails, see our executor duties guide. This is a real responsibility that can take many hours over many months.

Choose someone who is organized, financially comfortable with numbers, and willing to take on the role. Name a backup executor in case your first choice cannot serve. Many people name a spouse or adult child, but a trusted friend, accountant, or bank trust department can also work. Talk with your chosen executor before naming them. This should never come as a surprise.

Step 3: Write or Update Your Will

A Last Will and Testament is the starting point for most estate plans. It directs who receives your property, names your executor, and, if you have minor children, nominates a guardian. Without a will, your state's intestacy laws determine who inherits your estate, and a court picks a guardian for your children without any input from you.

If you already have a will, look at it now. Is your named executor still willing and able to serve? Have your beneficiaries changed? Have you acquired major new assets since the will was drafted? Have you moved to a new state? A will that is 10 or 15 years old may not reflect your wishes or comply with your current state's law.

Compare your options with our Will vs. Trust decision tool to decide whether a will alone is enough for your situation.

Step 4: Consider a Living Trust

A revocable living trust lets you transfer assets into a trust during your lifetime, bypassing probate when you die. You serve as the initial trustee. A successor trustee takes over at your death or incapacity without court involvement. Unlike a will, a trust does not become a public record.

A trust is especially useful if you own real estate in more than one state (which would otherwise require probate in each state), have a larger estate, have a blended family, or live in a state like California where probate is especially costly and slow.

Creating a trust is only half the work. You must also "fund" the trust by retitling your assets into the trust's name. An unfunded trust provides none of the probate-avoidance benefits. Work closely with your attorney to complete this step.

Step 5: Update Beneficiary Designations

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies supersede your will. They are among the most powerful, and most overlooked, estate planning tools. Review and update them for every account: 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, 403(b), pension, life insurance, annuities, payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts, and transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts.

Always name a contingent (backup) beneficiary in addition to your primary beneficiary. If your primary beneficiary dies before you and you have no contingent beneficiary named, the account proceeds may go through probate anyway.

The IRS guidance on retirement plan beneficiaries provides context on the tax rules that apply to inherited retirement accounts, including the 10-year rule under the SECURE Act. Use our Beneficiary Checker tool to audit your current designations.

Step 6: Create a Durable Power of Attorney

A durable power of attorney for finances authorizes your chosen agent to manage your financial affairs, including paying bills, managing investments, filing tax returns, and managing real estate, if you become incapacitated. "Durable" means it stays in effect even when you cannot make decisions, which is exactly when you need it most.

Without a durable power of attorney, your family may need to petition a court for a conservatorship or guardianship over your finances. That process can cost thousands of dollars and take months. No adult should be without this document, regardless of age or wealth.

Think carefully about who you name as your agent. This person will have broad authority over your finances. Pick someone you trust completely, who handles money responsibly, and who understands the decisions you would want them to make.

Steps 7 & 8: Healthcare Directive and Healthcare Proxy

Two documents govern your medical care if you cannot speak for yourself. An advance directive (also called a living will) records your wishes for specific medical interventions: whether you want to be kept on life support, your preferences about resuscitation, artificial nutrition, and pain management. A healthcare proxy (also called a healthcare power of attorney) names a specific person to make medical decisions on your behalf in real time.

Many states combine these functions into a single document. Even if yours does, it is worth giving your healthcare proxy explicit guidance about your values and priorities. The advance directive cannot anticipate every medical scenario, and your proxy will need to use judgment.

Requirements for valid execution vary by state. Some require notarization, others require witnesses with restrictions on who can witness, and some require both. That is why healthcare directives should always be reviewed against your current state's rules.

Step 9: Plan for Digital Assets

Digital assets are a growing part of any estate planning checklist. They include online bank and brokerage accounts, email accounts, social media profiles, cryptocurrency holdings, subscription services, digital photo libraries, business websites, online stores, and any accounts with stored value such as airline miles, PayPal balances, or gaming accounts.

Many states have enacted versions of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which gives executors and trustees legal authority to access digital assets with proper authorization. Here is what to do: include digital asset authorization language in your will or trust, create a separate inventory of digital accounts (stored securely), and use platform tools like Google's Inactive Account Manager or Facebook's Legacy Contact to designate what happens to those accounts.

Store passwords and access credentials using a password manager and share access instructions with your executor. Do not include actual passwords in your will, which becomes a public document through probate.

Steps 10 & 11: Letter of Instruction and Document Storage

A letter of instruction is an informal, non-binding document that gives practical guidance to your executor and family. It can include: the location of your original legal documents, bank account and investment account details, contact information for your attorney, accountant, and financial advisor, funeral and burial preferences, instructions for pets, and any personal messages or explanations of your estate planning decisions.

Because a letter of instruction is not a legal document, you can update it at any time without formality. Keep it current and make sure your executor knows it exists and where to find it.

Original legal documents, including your will, trust, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives, should be stored in a fireproof, waterproof location. Options include a home fireproof safe, a bank safe-deposit box (with a trusted person also having access), or with your attorney. Give copies to your executor, healthcare proxy, and agents. Tell them where the originals are. Documents that no one can find are no different from documents that do not exist.

Step 12: Schedule Regular Reviews

Finishing your estate planning checklist once is a real accomplishment. Keeping it current over the years is what makes it work. Set a calendar reminder to review your entire plan every three to five years. At each review, go through every document, every beneficiary designation, and your asset inventory.

Life changes that should trigger a review right away include: marriage or divorce, birth or adoption of a child, death of a beneficiary or named agent, a large increase or decrease in assets, purchase or sale of real estate, starting or closing a business, or a move to a new state. Laws change too. A periodic review with your estate planning attorney will catch issues created by new legislation.

Use Settled's Estate Planning Assessment tool to spot any gaps in your current plan, or read our full guide to estate planning basics to see how all the pieces fit together.

Advanced Planning Beyond the Basics

The 12 steps above cover what every adult needs. But if your situation involves a large estate, a business, a blended family, a child with special needs, or large charitable goals, your planning may need to go further.

Advanced estate planning strategies include: irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) to remove life insurance proceeds from your taxable estate, special needs trusts to provide for a disabled beneficiary without disqualifying them from government benefits, qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs) to transfer a home out of a taxable estate at a reduced gift tax cost, charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) for philanthropic goals combined with income, and family limited partnerships or LLCs for business succession planning.

The CFPB's guide to managing someone else's money is a good resource for agents under power of attorney and trustees who have taken on fiduciary responsibilities. These advanced strategies require an attorney specializing in estate and tax planning.

Official sources worth reviewing

A practical estate-planning checklist is mostly state-law work, but these public resources are useful for beneficiary rules, fiduciary obligations, and the tax and administrative issues families face after death.

• IRS retirement plan beneficiary guidance
• CFPB managing someone else’s money
• IRS Publication 559 for survivors, executors, and administrators
• IRS estate and gift tax guidance

Frequently Asked Questions