Estate Planning Checklist: 12 Steps for Your Will and Trust

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 provider 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 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 the work involved, 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 will directs probate property, nominates an executor, and can name a preferred guardian for minor children. State intestacy law governs property subject to those rules when there is no valid will. A court decides any guardian appointment under state law. Beneficiary, trust, and survivorship transfers may operate separately.

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 holds property under terms for management and transfer. The creator often serves as the first trustee. A successor takes over when the document and state law allow. Trust assets generally pass without probate, but administration and disputes can still require court involvement.

Property in more than one state, dependent beneficiaries, and plans for incapacity can raise trust-planning questions. Compare probate cost categories with the cost of creating and administering a trust. The San Francisco Superior Court trust guidance explains funding and administration without promising that every estate needs a trust.

Funding connects property to the trust through the appropriate ownership or beneficiary arrangement. The steps differ by asset, and some transfers have tax or benefit effects. Read how to fund a trust and identify the account and deed questions that need review.

Step 5: Update Beneficiary Designations

Valid beneficiary designations generally direct retirement accounts and insurance proceeds separately from a will. Plan terms, spousal rights, and divorce rules can affect the transfer. Review the current forms with each provider, including retirement plans, insurance policies, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts.

A contingent beneficiary is a backup if the first-choice beneficiary cannot receive the asset. Check both sets of names and the provider’s default rules. If no valid beneficiary can receive it, the proceeds may become payable to the estate or another recipient under the plan.

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 the authorized powers can continue during incapacity. The document may allow the agent to act earlier; its terms and state law control.

If no suitable financial authority exists during incapacity, a court-appointed guardian or conservator may be needed. The CFPB power of attorney guide explains this risk and the responsibilities involved in choosing an agent.

Discuss the role with the person you plan to name. The document may grant broad or limited authority. Clear duties and reporting arrangements can help others check how the agent handles money.

Steps 7 & 8: Healthcare Directive and Healthcare Proxy

A living will records treatment wishes. A healthcare proxy names someone to decide when you cannot. Both are forms of advance directive, and a state may combine them on one form. The advance directive guide compares these roles; MedlinePlus explains the document types.

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.

Digital-account access depends on state law, the documents granting authority, and the provider’s terms. List the accounts and check whether each provider offers an after-death access or deletion setting. A planning attorney can review what authority an executor or trustee may need.

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

Set a review reminder that works for your household. Check your asset inventory, documents, and beneficiary forms for changes. A reminder helps with organization; it does not replace a review after a major event.

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 can identify issues created by new legislation.

Use Settled Estate'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

A business, blended family, disabled beneficiary, or planned charitable gift can raise questions beyond this checklist. The documents and tax treatment need to fit those circumstances.

A special needs trust may address an inheritance for someone receiving disability benefits, but its terms and payments must meet the benefit rules. Business ownership and charitable transfers also raise separate planning and tax questions. The estate planning document comparison helps identify where a will, trust, or agent appointment fits.

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. An attorney familiar with estate and tax planning can review the options.

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