CHECKLIST FOR REVIEWING YOUR WILL
Copyright 1995 through 2011, Douglas D. Germann, Sr., Professional Corporation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Here are some questions you may wish to ask yourself, to make the important job of reviewing your Will and Estate Plan easier:
| Yes | No | |
| Your Family, Work, Life | ||
| 1. Have there been any big changes in your family, such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces or legal separations? | ||
| 2. Have there been any changes in your work and career? | ||
| 3. Have you made any major changes in your goals for yourself or your family? | ||
| 4. Have you acquired or disposed of any major assets (such as home, investment, or life insurance)? | ||
| 5. Does your estate (including real estate, life insurance, and pension plans) exceed $400,000 in value? | ||
| 6. Does anyone in your family have any special need for continuing or long term medical care or financial assistance? | ||
| Your Documents | ||
| 1. Is your Will over five years old? (If so, it is probably out of date for your family, as well as because the law has changed.) | ||
| 2. Do you want to make different (or additional) gifts of your household goods and personal property? | ||
| 3. Do you want to make different (or additional) gifts of specific sums of money? | ||
| 4. Do you want to make different gifts of the balance of your estate? | ||
| 5. Would you like to have someone’s gifts from you held and managed for him or her? | ||
| 6. Are the times when the children get their gifts (age 18 if you have no Trust), different from those you want? | ||
| 7. Are the purposes for which beneficiaries can get your gifts different from those you want? | ||
| 8. Do you want to give someone special powers to decide who gets what, or when? | ||
| 9. Would you like to make a different gift of your estate if your whole family is wiped out? | ||
| 10. Would you like to make gifts to charities or others to extend the good you can do? | ||
| 11. Would you like to name any different guardian or alternate guardian for your children? | ||
| 12. Would you like to make (or prohibit) gifts of your body or organs to science? | ||
| 13. Would you like to name a different Executor or back up Executor? | ||
| 14. Would you like to name a different or back up Trustee? | ||
| 15. Do you have any new burial or funeral instructions? | ||
| 16. Do you have any other new or changed provisions you’d like in the documents? | ||
| 17. Do you have any questions about your Will or Estate Plan? |
Note: A “yes” answer indicates that you probably need to make changes in your documents. Some changes are fairly simple and inexpensive to make, while others may require a lot of decisions or drafting. We will be happy to discuss your questions with you. It is dangerous for your family (and maybe for you) to put it off. None of us knows when our “lease on life” expires. Do it now, for your loved ones.
Douglas D. Germann, Sr., Professional Corporation P.O. Box 2796, South Bend, IN 46680-2796 telephone 574/291-0022; fax 574/291-0024 email 76066 [dot] 515 AT Compuserve [dot] com