What To Do When Your Estate Plan Is Complete
Most of my clients breathe a sigh of relief once their estate planning is complete. All of us know that wonderful feeling when a daunting task we’ve been thinking about for a while is finally finished. However, there a few additional steps that can truly wind up the process and offer complete peace of mind. 1. Fund your trust. “Funding” a trust means either transferring ownership of assets to your trust during your lifetime, or designating the trust as beneficiary upon your death (also known as “Pay on Death” or “Transfer on Death” designations). If you fail to fund your trust, your assets may have to go through the probate process using your “pourover” will. In that case, the assets will eventually reach the trust, but the trust’s advantage of avoiding probate court, with its associated expenses and delays, would be lost. In addition, if your assets do not pass through your trust, they can lose any protections and “backup plans” we’ve built into the trust.