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Estate Planning Checklist

Tabzoola's free estate planning checklist lists the 16documents most estate plans are built from, from the will and trust to beneficiary designations and a letter of instruction. Mark each one as in place, still needed or not applicable, note where it's kept, and download a printable PDF. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.

Core documents
Will
Names who receives what and who serves as executor.
Revocable Living Trust
Holds assets so they can pass without probate.
Pour-Over Will
Moves anything left outside the trust into it.
Financial Power of Attorney
Names someone to handle money matters if you cannot.
Health care
Health Care Power of Attorney
Names someone to make medical decisions if you cannot.
Living Will / Advance Directive
Records your wishes for end-of-life care.
HIPAA Authorization
Lets named people receive your medical information.
Assets and accounts
Beneficiary Designations
Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by these forms.
Deeds & Titles
Real estate and vehicle titles, and how each is owned.
Asset Inventory
A list of accounts, property and debts with where to find each.
Insurance Policies
Life, long-term care, home and auto policies.
Digital Assets & Passwords
Where online accounts are listed and how to reach them.
Family and wishes
Guardian Nomination
Names who would care for minor children.
Letter of Instruction
Practical notes for your family: contacts, bills, where things are.
Funeral & Burial Wishes
Your wishes and any prepaid arrangements.
Important Contacts
Attorney, financial advisor, accountant, executor and trustee.

8 in place · 6 still needed · 2 not applicable

Tab a binder for these 14 documents →

General information, not legal advice. Your estate planning attorney decides what your plan needs.

For estate planning attorneys

Hand every client the same binder: printed trust and estate tabs in your own section names, collated and 3-hole punched, and this checklist to go in the front.

Estate planning binder tabs →

Related: estate binder builder, trust administration binder tabs, probate binder tabs, estate planning binder sections.

Estate planning checklist questions

What should be on an estate planning checklist?

Most estate plans are built from the same documents: a will, often a revocable living trust with a pour-over will, a financial power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, a living will or advance directive, and a HIPAA authorization. Around them sit the beneficiary designations, deeds and titles, an asset inventory, insurance policies, a list of digital assets, a guardian nomination for minor children, a letter of instruction, funeral wishes and important contacts. Tabzoola's checklist on this page lists all 16.

What documents do I need for estate planning?

That depends on your family, your property and your state, which is why the decision belongs to your estate planning attorney. This checklist is general information: it names the documents most plans contain so you can see what is in place and what to ask about.

Where should estate planning documents be kept?

Somewhere safe that the right people can reach: many people leave the signed originals with their attorney or keep them in a fireproof home safe, and give the executor and trustee a copy of the checklist that says where each one is. The Where it's kept line on each document is for exactly that.

How do I organize estate planning documents?

Put them in a binder with a tabbed divider for each document, in the order the family will need them. The button under the checklist opens Tabzoola's designer with a tab for every document you marked, and an 8-tab trust and estate set is $8.17 a set at 25 sets, collated and 3-hole punched — the quantity estate practices order to hand every client the same binder.

Is this checklist legal advice?

No. It is general information about common estate planning documents. It does not tell you which documents you need or whether yours are valid; an estate planning attorney licensed in your state does that.

Is anything I enter saved or sent?

No. The checklist and its PDF are made in your browser; nothing you type is stored or sent to Tabzoola.