Estate planning involves more than deciding who receives your property after you die. A complete plan also identifies who can manage your finances, make healthcare decisions, care for minor children, protect a business, and carry out your wishes if you cannot act for yourself. An estate planning checklist can help you review each piece.

Without clear instructions, your loved ones may face court involvement, delays, unexpected expenses, and difficult decisions during an already emotional time.

At True North Wealth Management, we help clients connect estate planning with their investments, retirement accounts, insurance, taxes, business interests, and family goals. TNWM also works with Trust & Will, giving clients a practical way to begin creating or updating important estate documents.

Use this checklist to identify possible gaps in your current plan.

1. Do You Have a Will?

A last will and testament explains how you want certain assets distributed after your death.

A will may also allow you to:

Name an executor
Choose guardians for minor children
Identify beneficiaries
Give instructions for personal property
Create certain trusts under the will
Explain how you want debts and expenses handled

If you die without a valid will, state law generally determines who inherits probate property. That result may not reflect your wishes.

A will does not control every asset. Retirement accounts, life insurance, jointly owned property, trusts, and accounts with beneficiary designations may transfer outside the will.

2. Have You Named Guardians for Minor Children?

Parents should name both a preferred guardian and at least one alternate.

Without written instructions, a court may need to decide who will care for your children. The person the court selects may not be the person you would have chosen.

You should also consider who will manage money for your children. The best caregiver is not always the best financial manager, so your estate plan may assign those responsibilities to different people.

3. Do You Have Healthcare Documents?

Healthcare documents explain your medical preferences and identify who can make decisions if you cannot communicate.

Depending on your state and circumstances, these documents may include:

A living will
An advance healthcare directive
A healthcare power of attorney
A healthcare proxy
A HIPAA authorization

A living will generally states the treatment you would or would not want under certain medical conditions. A healthcare power of attorney names someone to make medical decisions on your behalf.

These documents can help your family follow your wishes instead of guessing during a crisis.

4. Do You Have a Durable Financial Power of Attorney?

A durable financial power of attorney authorizes a trusted person to manage financial and legal matters if you become unable to act.

Your chosen agent may be able to:

Pay bills
Manage bank accounts
Handle investments
File tax returns
Manage property
Communicate with insurance companies
Address business matters
Work with government agencies

Without a valid power of attorney, family members may need to seek court authority before managing your affairs.

Choose your agent carefully. This person may have significant control over your financial life.

5. Would a Living Trust Support Your Goals?

A revocable living trust can hold and manage assets during your lifetime and provide instructions for those assets after your death.

A properly structured and funded trust may help:

Avoid probate for trust-owned property
Provide management during incapacity
Protect privacy
Coordinate property in multiple states
Create instructions for children or other beneficiaries
Simplify the transfer of certain assets

Creating the document alone is not enough. You must properly fund the trust by transferring appropriate assets into it or coordinating beneficiary designations with the plan.

Not every family needs a trust. An attorney can help determine whether one fits your assets, family structure, privacy concerns, and planning goals.

6. Are Your Beneficiary Designations Current?

Beneficiary designations often control who receives assets such as:

401(k) accounts
Traditional and Roth IRAs
Life insurance
Annuities
Payable-on-death bank accounts
Transfer-on-death investment accounts

These instructions may override what your will says.

Review beneficiary forms after major life events, including:

Marriage
Divorce
Birth or adoption
Death of a beneficiary
Job change
Retirement
Inheritance
Changes in family relationships

Name contingent beneficiaries as well as primary beneficiaries whenever appropriate.

7. Have You Reviewed Account Ownership?

How you title an asset can affect how it transfers.

Joint ownership, rights of survivorship, payable-on-death instructions, transfer-on-death registrations, and trust ownership may all produce different results.

Joint ownership can simplify certain transfers, but it may also create tax, creditor, control, and family concerns. Do not add someone to an account or deed solely as a substitute for complete estate planning without first reviewing the consequences.

8. Do You Have the Right Life Insurance?

Life insurance may help provide cash for:

Income replacement
Mortgage or debt repayment
Final expenses
Education funding
Support for dependents
Estate expenses
Business succession
Charitable or legacy goals
Equalizing inheritances

Review the policy’s death benefit, premiums, ownership, beneficiaries, cash value, policy loans, riders, and projected performance.

Before surrendering or replacing a policy, understand the potential tax consequences, surrender charges, and effect on future insurability.

9. Could Federal Estate Tax Affect Your Plan?

For individuals who die in 2026, the federal estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount is $15 million per person under current federal law. That can provide a combined potential exclusion of $30 million for a married couple, but portability is not automatic and may require a timely estate tax return.[1]

Most families will not owe federal estate tax. However, taxes are only one part of estate planning.

Families below the federal threshold may still need to address:

Probate
Income taxes
Capital gains and cost basis
Retirement account taxation
Property in other states
Business succession
Family conflict
Creditor concerns
Unequal inheritances

Estate-tax rules can change, and another state’s laws may apply depending on residency and property ownership.

10. Have You Protected Your Business?

Business owners need an estate and succession strategy.

Your plan should address what happens if you die, become disabled, retire, or can no longer manage the company.

Consider reviewing:

Buy-sell agreements
Successor leadership
Business valuation
Life and disability insurance
Ownership transfer restrictions
Funding for a buyout
Key-person coverage
Access to records and accounts
Personal guarantees and business debt
Continuity of payroll and operations

Without a succession plan, a healthy business can face immediate uncertainty.

11. Have You Created a Letter of Instruction?

A letter of instruction is not usually a binding legal document, but it can provide helpful guidance to your family and executor.

It may include:

The location of important documents
Contact information for advisors
Funeral or memorial preferences
Instructions for personal possessions
Digital account information
Pet care instructions
Family or personal messages
Information that does not belong in the will

Keep the letter current and store it with—or near—your other planning records.

12. Have You Organized Your Digital Life?

Digital assets can become difficult for family members to locate or manage.

Create a secure inventory of:

Email accounts
Social media accounts
Cloud storage
Online banking
Cryptocurrency
Digital photographs
Subscription services
Business platforms
Website domains
Password management instructions

Do not place sensitive passwords directly in a will because a probated will may become public. Use a secure password-management system and provide appropriate access instructions.

13. Can Your Family Find Everything?

A complete plan provides little value if no one can locate it.

Organize records such as:

Your will
Trust documents
Powers of attorney
Healthcare directives
Life insurance policies
Property deeds
Vehicle titles
Bank and investment records
Retirement plan information
Tax returns
Business agreements
Debt records
Safe-deposit box information
Advisor contact information

Tell your executor, trustee, agent, or another trusted person where to find these materials. Avoid keeping the only original will somewhere your family cannot access after your death.

14. Have You Discussed the Plan With the Right People?

You do not have to disclose every financial detail, but the people named in your documents should understand their roles.

Speak with your:

Executor
Trustee
Financial agent
Healthcare decision-maker
Chosen guardians
Business successor

Confirm that each person is willing and able to serve. Name alternates in case your first choice cannot act.

15. When Did You Last Review Your Estate Plan?

Estate planning is not a one-time project.

Review your plan after major life or financial changes, such as:

Marriage or divorce
Birth or adoption
Death or incapacity in the family
Purchase or sale of real estate
Move to another state
New business ownership
Business sale
Retirement
Large inheritance
Major change in wealth
Change in tax law
Changes in important relationships

Even without a major event, a review every few years can help ensure that the documents, beneficiaries, agents, and asset titles still reflect your wishes.

Estate Planning Through Trust & Will and TNWM

A complete estate plan may include a will, beneficiary designations, a revocable living trust, an advance healthcare directive, and powers of attorney, depending on the family’s needs.[2]

Through its work with Trust & Will, True North Wealth Management helps make the document-creation process more approachable. TNWM can also help coordinate your estate documents with your financial accounts, investment strategy, insurance, retirement plan, and beneficiary designations.

Complex estates, business interests, blended families, special-needs planning, tax concerns, or family conflicts may require direct guidance from an estate planning attorney.

Protect the People and Plans That Matter

Estate planning gives your family more than legal documents. It gives them direction.

A clear plan can help protect your children, preserve your assets, communicate your healthcare wishes, support business continuity, and reduce uncertainty for the people you love.

If your estate documents are incomplete, outdated, or disconnected from your financial plan, schedule a conversation with True North Wealth Management.

A thoughtful review can help you identify gaps, organize your financial life, and take the next step with greater confidence.

Estate Planning Checklist: Is Your Financial Life in Order?