Once you know that you need a solid estate plan to help you accomplish your goals, the next step is to conduct an inventory. You have to know what you have and what might be included in your estate before you attend a meeting with your estate planning lawyer. Many people find themselves overwhelmed by the prospect of putting together an estate plan, but the good news is that it does not have to be difficult. 09

Make sure you consider the following in putting together an inventory:

• Recent statements from your brokerage, retirement, and bank accounts
• All liabilities, including your mortgage
• All physical assets like cars and jewelry inside your home
• All your insurance policies, including info on death benefits and cash values
• Reference all the locations of your safety deposit boxes

After meeting with your estate planning, you’ll have a better sense of what you need to do in order to make the most of your estate plan. It’s critical that you follow through since your estate plan is only as valuable as the structure and the follow-up you implement. This means that if you have set up a trust, you need to fund it properly. You need to make sure that any property you have mentioned in your estate plan has the right titles, too. These might seem like small steps, but they actually matter a lot if something were to happen to you. Taking the right action now makes it easier to stay on top of the necessary changes in your plan overall, too.

Ready to talk about how to make the most of estate planning? Schedule a consultation with a New Jersey estate planning lawyer now to learn more about what you need to know.