10 Questions to Ask About Your Estate Plan

Did you know October was Estate Planning Awareness Month?  Better yet, did you know October 19^th through the 25^th was Estate Planning Awareness week?

In light of this important time, we felt it would be a great opportunity to ask you a few key questions as to each of your estate plans.

Below are 10 key questions each of you can answer to ensure your estate plan still meets your wishes.  

If you read through this list and it leads you to think more about your plan (or lack thereof), it would be a great idea to schedule a consultation with us to get things updated.

#1  –  Are all of your beneficiary designations in place and up-to-date?

This month would be a great time to take a look through your:

• cash accounts,
• retirement accounts,
• and life insurance policies

to ensure they all have your up-to-date beneficiary designations listed.

In addition, if you have any ethanol shares, co-op credits, or interests in any businesses or partnerships, those can have beneficiary designations listed as well!

Did you know you can also have beneficiary designations on your vehicles? For South Dakota, as of July 2025, you can leave your vehicles to beneficiaries. Each state differs, so make sure to check with your local county finance office.

If probate avoidance is a priority to you and your family, make sure your beneficiary designations are up to date.

 

#2  –  Do you have an inventory of all your assets?

While you’re checking your assets to make sure they have beneficiary designations, you might as well take an inventory of what you own.  Taking a look at everything you own is a sure-fire way to ensure you don’t miss anything.  If there are any assets you may have forgotten to put in the name of your trust, taking an inventory of what you own can allow you to include everything.

Also, this list helps your Personal Representative or Successor Trustee know what property is part of your estate once administration occurs upon your passing.

 

#3  –  Any outstanding debts? Write them down.

Writing down and making note of all outstanding debts you have can save a headache and potential legal fight when you pass away.

Like taking an inventory of what you own, if your Successor Trustee or Personal Representative is made aware of the outstanding debts you have, it makes administration for them substantially easier.

They are able to reach out and discuss with the creditor to make sure things get handled seamlessly.

 

#4  –  Have you created a list documenting your sources of income?

Documenting your sources of income can benefit you in a few different ways.  If you are trying to figure out if you can afford a nursing home stay, sitting down and documenting your sources of income can go a long way. For example, many of our clients can pay for a lot more of their nursing home stay than they think. This often provides that peace of mind most look for in estate planning.

How it usually works is when we meet with clients, we ask them what some of their goals and concerns are with their estate planning.  When we hear that their main concern is not having to sell the farm or any of their assets to pay for a long-term care stay, we first discuss their current income streams.  We walk them through each of their income streams, both current and future, and add everything up.  Then, we discuss the different levels of long-term care. Something to remember is not everyone is going to need full nursing care.  Many clients choose to go with assisted living, independent living, or  even in-home care as an alternative.

Regardless of the level of care one goes with, writing down and going through the sources of income really puts the cost into perspective. Many of our clients look at their assets and income streams and find that they are much better off than they originally thought. Some even have the ability to pay for their care as they go.  Don’t get me wrong, we would love for you to work with us on your Medicaid pre-planning. However, the most important part of our job is working with you on what’s in your best interest.  We make sure our clients understand all of their options.

On a second note, having a documentation of your sources of income makes administration of the estate much easier on your successors.  They can use this information to document whether your estate will be receiving any additional income after you have passed.  With this information, they can work with your CPA to get your final taxes wrapped up.

 

#5  –  Are the people you have listed as your agents still the people you want in those roles?

Something we discuss with our clients is flexibility with their planning. Two things that are always changing are family dynamics and laws.

As time goes on, laws are always changing in D.C., as well as in our state legislatures.  As laws change, we want to make sure our estate plans are flexible enough to change along with them.

We can all agree family dynamics may change more often than we care to admit. As people are getting married, having kids, and getting divorced, we want to make sure our plan can evolve to account for these life changes. We have also seen where family members are developing addictions, developing special needs, having spending problems, and the inverse of these three. We also want to account for these changes in our plans as well.

Kids can be set to inherit assets in a number of different ways. If you would like to learn more about these options, please don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys.

With all well-written estate plans, you’ll have a few different documents where this particularly pertains to. You have your Will or your Trust, your Property Power of Attorney, and your Healthcare Power of Attorney. Your Personal Representative or Successor Trustee will be the individual(s) that will administer your Will or your Trust, respectively, when you pass away.

Your Property POA will be the person who assists in making any financial decisions in the event you’re alive but incapacitated.

The Healthcare POA is the person assisting you with healthcare decisions in the same scenario.

Given the importance of each of these fiduciary responsibilities, be sure to review if the people you currently have listed with these duties are still who you want. If family dynamics have changed and the people in place right now don’t have a solid relationship with you, I would consider making a change.

On the flip side, if you have gotten a better relationship with someone and want them to take over the responsibilities, this can be changed, too.

 

#6  –  You’ve checked to make sure your applicable assets have beneficiary designations, but have you checked to make sure nothing has changed for your beneficiaries?

As mentioned above, family dynamics can change, sometimes more frequently than we like to admit. It is crucial to make sure you check your beneficiaries throughout your life.  If any of your intended beneficiaries are getting married or divorced or develop any form of addictions or require government assistance, you will want to adjust how they are receiving their inheritance.

For example, if any beneficiary develops the need to receive government assistance, a Supplemental Needs Trust may help prolong the inheritance they receive. Fun fact: If YOU create the Supplemental Needs Trust in YOUR plan for your beneficiary, they will not have to pay back Medicaid.

If your beneficiaries are having trouble managing money or dealing with addictions, they can inherit in a protective trust share for their benefit. We can structure it in a way that allows them to gain control of their trust share upon reaching certain checkpoints or years of age.  At Thompson Law, we call these protective trust shares “Sentry Trusts”. If you would like to have these added as part of your plan, be sure to contact your estate planning attorney about their implementation.

On a lighter note, if you aren’t dealing with any of the concerns previously discussed but still want to adjust your distributions, be sure to do that so it doesn’t get left undone.

For some of you who created plans years ago, keep in mind that estate planning is not static. Creating your Will or your Trust and putting it in the file cabinet is not a practice we recommend. Many older plans have specific ages for children to receive distributions. They also may have parents or siblings acting as successor trustees. We consider it a good practice to update your plan as your family grows and develops.

 

#7  –  Do you have your passwords organized in a secure place?

This step is particularly important upon your passing because the world is becoming more and more digitized.  Substantially more of our important information in today’s day and age is protected and accessible by using some form of password.  If they are kept in a secure place (and your successor is made aware of that place) it makes estate administration that much smoother once you pass away.

For example, we have delt with clients whose parents have passed and they are unable to assist in parts of the administration since they are unable to access certain accounts.  Creating a headache of an administration for your heirs is a great way to leave a negative lasting impact.  If all of your passwords are in one secure place (and updated regularly), they should have substantially less trouble, if any, administering your estate.

 

#8  –  Have you compiled a list of your key professional contacts?

When your kids are administering Mom or Dad’s estate, it can be overwhelming.  It is much worse when they look at what needs to be done and don’t know who to talk to about it.  When you compile a list of your CPA, insurance agent(s), financial advisor, attorney, etc., it makes the administration much simpler. Having a list with all of your professional contacts in one spot allows them to know who to call, so they can seamlessly check each box in the administration and tie up any loose ends that may be out there.

*** Our plans at Thompson Law include a section in your Estate Planning Portfolio that allow you to list all these contacts, so they are in one consolidated place. If you have not filled out those sections in your estate planning binder, now would be a good time to take a look and accomplish that.  Your kids will thank you in the future.

 

#9  –  When was the last time you reviewed your estate plan? If you can’t remember, it may be a good time to consider an annual estate plan review.

Reviewing your estate plan should be a top priority.  As I mentioned earlier, estate planning is not static.  It should be updated as laws change and as your family grows and develops.  Too often we meet with clients who have not been in to review their plan since the second Bush administration.  This may not be the biggest deal, if you’re lucky.  However, laws have changed, language has changed, and odds are your kids have grown way up since then.  Making sure you have a regular review of your estate plan scheduled is how you can be more confident in what you have in place.

We discuss with clients all the time that being eighty percent sure of how you want your plan structured is enough to get the structure in place.  The other twenty percent can be ironed out as life unfolds.  Each time you schedule and complete a plan review, that percentage grows closer to one hundred percent.

At Thompson Law, we take the time to review your entire plan with you in these scheduled reviews.  We also offer any suggestions that might be applicable to your unique situation.  We are always a phone call or email away in the event you want to make changes.  We take pride in those lasting relationships created with all our clients.

 

#10  –  Is the location of your estate planning documents a secret? It shouldn’t be, at least to your fiduciaries.

I cannot stress enough how important this is upon your passing. During the administration phase, the guiding set of instructions is your Will or your Trust. If your successors are unable to find your estate planning portfolio, they may not have a smooth administration. After all, a big reason your plan is there is to make the administration easier on your kids. If they can’t find these documents, they won’t have anything to go off when trying to administer your estate. Instead of remembering all of the memories, values, and life lessons you have shared with them over the years, they will be inherently focused on the mess they will have to take care of.

For those of you who are clients of Thompson Law, keep in mind, we keep scanned copies of these documents in our system.  If you are wondering where you may want to keep your documents, maybe consider a fireproof cabinet, or a gun safe. Regardless of where you keep your original documents, be sure that your fiduciaries at least know where to find them.

 

This Fall, while you’re enjoying the changes in the weather and beginning to take in the “pumpkin spice and everything nice,” also take a look at how these 10 reminders tie into your own plan. If there are changes that need to be made regarding any one of them, feel free to contact our office and we can help sort things out for you to get your overall estate plan closer to that 100%.

If you don’t currently have a plan because you’re “going to live forever,” I’ve got news for you, your kids will be grateful you came to Thompson Law and put a plan in place.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or updating a plan you already have, let’s get started on making sure your wishes are taken care of.