Taxes

Taxes That May Be Due After Your Death

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What taxes may need to be paid after someone passes away?

In this installment of Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC’s Smart Counsel for Lunch series, attorney Brittany Hinojosa-Citron discusses the different taxes that may come into play after death and what individuals and families should understand as part of the estate planning and estate administration process.

Understanding these potential tax obligations ahead of time can help you make more informed decisions and better prepare your loved ones.

If you have questions about estate tax planning or would like to review your existing estate plan, the attorneys at Samuel, Sayward & Baler can help.

Learn more or contact us: https://ssbllc.com/contact

What Is the Kiddie Tax?

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What is the “kiddie tax,” and when does it apply?

Attorney Sean Downing explains the basics of the kiddie tax, including how certain unearned income received by children and young adults may be taxed and why families should understand the rules when planning for investments, gifts, and other assets.

Have questions about how these rules may affect your estate or financial planning?

To learn more, please contact us at 781-461-1020.

Five Reasons AI and Estate Planning Don’t Mix

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Artificial intelligence is the newest technological innovation that many people are excited to use.  In many ways, AI can make your life easier – it can help you draft an email, plan a vacation, summarize a document, tell you how much your grandfather’s pocket watch is worth, or answer just about any question you can think of.  So it is understandable that some people are turning to AI to help them complete a task that may have been on the To Do List for a while – creating a Will or other estate-planning documents.

After all, if AI can write a legal-sounding document in seconds, why pay an attorney?

The problem is that estate planning isn’t simply about taking a list of your wishes and creating a document that puts those wishes into legal language.  A good estate plan has to account for your family members (and sometimes challenging family dynamics), your assets, state law, income and estate tax considerations, joint ownership of assets, beneficiary designations, and what could happen if circumstances change. A document that looks and sounds legally correct can easily still fail to accomplish what you intended.

Here are five reasons you should think twice before relying on AI for your estate plan.

  1. Estate planning laws vary from state to state

One of the biggest problems with using AI for legal documents is that the law isn’t the same everywhere.

State laws governing Wills, Trusts, witnesses, notarization, powers of attorney, health care decision-making, joint ownership, asset protection, and estate taxes can vary significantly from one state to another, even within New England. Even small procedural requirements can affect whether a document is valid at all, or whether it will work the way you intended.

AI may provide a document that looks correct without taking into account the nuances of the law of the state where you live.  Lawyers take bar exams and are admitted to practice in a particular state for this exact reason – because it is important to be well-versed in the law of the state in which you practice, which is different than the law of any other state. 

A false reliance on AI generated legal documents is  especially risky because estate planning is one area where “close enough” isn’t necessarily good enough. You don’t want to discover after your death that a document didn’t meet a particular legal requirement.

  1. AI doesn’t know your family the way an estate-planning attorney does

Estate planning is about people as much as it is about paperwork.  When you meet with an estate planning attorney for an initial consultation, a good attorney will spend a good deal of time at that initial meeting getting to know you and your family, as well as understanding the assets you own, how you own them, and your planning goals.  Maybe you have children from a previous marriage. Perhaps one child has special needs, one is financially inexperienced, or one has received substantial gifts during your lifetime. Maybe you’re concerned about protecting assets for your spouse or grandchildren.  Maybe you are in a profession where liability is a concern.  Maybe you are not in good health and are concerned about protecting assets from long-term care liability.  These and countless other facts about you or your family can dramatically change your attorney’s advice about the best way to structure an estate plan.

An AI chatbot can respond only to the information you give it.  Many clients come to us and describe their situation as “simple” when in fact it is anything but simple from a planning perspective.  When you don’t understand what information is important, chances are you are not giving AI all of the facts it needs to advise you properly.  The AI chatbot isn’t sitting across the table from you and seeing from your facial expressions that the answer to  a particular question requires further discussion, nor does it know the kinds of follow-up questions an experienced estate-planning attorney knows to ask.  Estate planning attorneys are trained to identify the potential issues you haven’t thought about or don’t even realize exist, to ask the sometimes difficult questions, and to help you make informed decisions about the best options to address the issues that may be present.

  1. A document can look right and still be wrong

AI is remarkably good at producing documents that look and sound like they were written by an attorney.  But a document that sounds like a lawyer wrote it isn’t necessarily a document that will accomplish your goals.

For example, a homemade Will might say who receives your property but fail to address what happens if a beneficiary dies before you.  That same Will might be signed by you, but not witnessed or notarized properly, making it invalid.   A power of attorney might not allow the person you have named to make decisions for you to take certain steps that are necessary based on the types of assets you own.  A trust might be created without properly transferring assets into it, which will require a lengthy and costly probate proceeding following your death.  

And the document alone is not enough.  Your estate plan documents need to work within the law of your state to accomplish your goals and fit together as part of a larger estate plan, which includes asset ownership and beneficiary designations that are consistent with your plan.

  1. Your estate plan is more than a will

Another common mistake is thinking that estate planning means simply writing a Will.

A complete estate plan typically includes powers of attorney and health care directives that address decision-making during incapacity, as well as Wills, and revocable and/or irrevocable Trusts.  If you own real estate, deeds may be necessary to transfer ownership of your property, as well as a Declaration of Homestead that protects the equity in your primary residence against creditors’ claims.  

The individual components are important, as well as how they interact with and impact each other.  For example, your Will generally doesn’t control assets that pass directly to a joint owner or a beneficiary, or that are owned by a Trust.  Your Will will not be effective, despite how well it’s written, unless asset ownership and beneficiaries are coordinated properly.

AI can help you make a checklist of questions to discuss with a professional. It is impossible for it to independently verify that every part of your estate plan works together, or know what questions to ask to make sure that’s the case.

  1. Taxes are Complicated

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states with a separate state estate tax, imposed on the value of the assets you own at the time of your death.  With good advice and appropriate estate planning, it is possible to reduce or eliminate this tax, but this type of planning requires the guidance of an experienced estate planning attorney.  Knowing the subtleties of Massachusetts law and estate tax regulations and practice around things like out of state property (like your New Hampshire lake house or your Vermont ski condo) or gifts you may have made to your child to purchase their first home are key to advising you properly.  

AI can be a useful starting point for estate-planning education. It can help you understand unfamiliar terminology, create a list of questions for an attorney, organize information about your assets, or explain the difference between documents.  We encourage you to use AI as a starting point to learn about estate planning, and to follow that up with a visit to the websites of estate planning attorneys in your state where you can find state-specific articles about planning that may be appropriate for you.  We do not encourage you to use AI to do your estate planning.  Although the time and cost savings may be tempting, an inappropriate estate plan will create more issues than it solves, including problems that aren’t obvious to you until it’s too late to correct them.

Your estate plan represents some of the most important decisions you can make about your family, your property, and your future.  Let an experienced estate planning attorney help you make the right decisions and put a plan in place that is appropriate for you and your family’s situation.  I will end up saving you time and money in the long run and give you peace of mind.

Attorney Brittany Hinojosa Citron is a senior associate attorney with the Dedham, Massachusetts, firm of Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, which focuses on advising its clients in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement, and elder law matters. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney. For more information or to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys, please call 781-461-1020. 

© 2026 Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC

5 Types of Taxes to Consider for Estate Planning

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250 years ago, our country declared independence from Great Britain in no small part due to unfair taxes. Two and a half centuries later, Americans are still looking for ways to pay less taxes. In fact, one of the most common questions we get as estate planning attorneys is how to reduce taxes with estate planning.

Estate planning intersects with multiple types of taxes, and there are many strategies, sometimes conflicting strategies, to reduce taxes. Below are five types of taxes to consider when estate planning:

1. Estate Taxes

An estate tax is a one-time tax due at someone’s death based on the value of the deceased person’s assets at death. The federal estate tax is only applicable when a person dies with more than $15 million (2026 amount) in their estate. However, the Massachusetts estate tax kicks in when a person dies with $2 million in their estate, which can very easily happen in Massachusetts if a person owns real estate.

Assets passing outside of probate, such as retirement accounts with beneficiaries, investment accounts held in a revocable trust, and life insurance are all countable assets when calculating estate tax. This means that estate planning tools for avoiding probate do not automatically reduce estate tax liability.

There are a few options to reduce estate taxes at your death. Married couples can utilize credit shelter trusts to make sure that both of their $2 million estate tax exemptions are used. People can also give away assets before their death, perhaps to their children or to irrevocable trusts to lower their taxable estate. The best approach will largely depend on your asset structure and family situation, and you should discuss your options with your estate planning attorney.

A similar concept to an estate tax is an inheritance tax, which is a tax the beneficiaries have to pay as they receive money instead of a tax the estate has to pay before assets pass to the beneficiaries. A few states have inheritance taxes, but Massachusetts does not. There is also no federal inheritance tax.  

2. Income Taxes

Income taxes become relevant to estate planning whenever there are pre-tax retirement accounts such as traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s. Distributions from these accounts are taxed as income to you (or whoever the beneficiary is). Because income taxes are taxed using progressive brackets, it is usually preferable for pre-tax retirement accounts to take out smaller distributions over a longer period of time as opposed to taking larger distributions over a shorter period of time. 

The federal government has a lot of rules around beneficiaries taking out required distributions from retirement accounts and the period of time a beneficiary has to take out distributions. The period of time can vary widely from 5 years to the rest of the beneficiary’s life. Depending on your retirement assets, the intended beneficiaries for said assets (including whether there is any charitable giving as part of your estate plan), your marital status, and use of trust instruments as part of your plan, your estate planning attorney can advise you on the best way to minimize income taxes due while achieving your estate plan goals. 

3. Capital Gains Taxes

Capital gains taxes are a subtype of income taxes imposed upon the increase in value of an asset. A tax is only due when an asset is sold, and the tax is calculated against the amount of capital gain (the present value of the asset less the tax basis). The classic two examples of capital gains taxes are on houses and stocks. If you buy your home for $150,000, and then later sell it for $200,000, there is a capital gain of $50,000.

There are a couple of laws in place which help reduce capital gains tax liability. First, there is a $250,000 capital gains exclusion ($500,000 for a married couple) for the sale of your primary residence. This means that $250,000/$500,000 is deducted from your capital gains before a tax is calculated. 

The second law concerns “stepped-up basis”. When an asset like a house is gifted to someone, the house retains the tax basis of the person who made the gift. However, when a house is inherited, the house’s tax basis becomes the value of the house at the deceased person’s death (it gets a “stepped-up” basis). For example, if person A buy a house for $100,000, gifts the house to person B when it is worth $150,000, and B later sells the house for $175,000, the capital gain is $75,000 ($175,000 – $100,000). If, instead, person A buys a house for $100,000, dies when the house is worth $150,000 leaving it to person B, and B later sells the house for $175,000, the capital gain is just $25,000 ($175,000 – $150,000).  

The takeaway lesson is that it often makes sense to hold onto property until your death rather than giving it away. This can affect what type of estate planning documents and provisions are necessary. 

4. Gift Taxes

Gift taxes are an often-misunderstood type of tax. There is no Massachusetts gift tax, but there is a federal gift tax, which is tied to the federal estate tax. As mentioned above, every person has a $15 million exemption (2026 amount) before they need to pay any estate taxes. However, if a person makes large gifts throughout their lifetime, that $15 million exclusion is reduced by the amount of the gift. For instance, if person C made a gift of $1 million to her child, her lifetime federal estate tax exemption would be reduced from $15 million to $14 million. 

The federal government does not want to track every small gift you make, so you only need to file a gift tax return when you make a gift of over $19,000 per recipient (2026 amount). If a gift of over $19,000 to a single person was made during a year, no tax will be due (unless you’ve exhausted the $15 million amount). The gift of over $19,000 simply triggers a need to file the gift tax return. 

Gifting is frequently part of a comprehensive estate plan strategy to reduce your estate for estate tax purposes. For most people, this will result in more tax paperwork but not an increase in taxes. 

5. Generation Skipping Transfer Taxes

Families with large amounts of assets may not just be worried about their estate tax liability but the estate tax liability of their children. The fear is that a federal-estate-tax taxable inheritance left to your child will make your child wealthy enough that their estate also has a federal estate tax. This could be viewed as a double hit of estate tax on the same wealth.

A strategy around this would be to leave some of your assets to your grandchildren instead of it all to your children. That way, your children’s estates will be reduced at their death for estate tax purposes. The federal government, however, curbs this strategy somewhat with the generation-skipping transfer tax. (There is no Massachusetts generation skipping transfer tax.) The generation-skipping transfer tax imposes a tax on any transfer from you to someone 37.5 years younger than you (excluding children and children of deceased children). However, like the federal estate tax, there is a $15 million lifetime exclusion amount. This $15 million exclusion is separate from the combined $15 million federal estate/gift tax exclusion. 

Most clients will not need to worry about generation skipping transfer tax, but it is important to know what it is and why language for it often appears in trusts. 

When drafting your estate plan, it’s important for you to let your estate planning attorney know your tax concerns so they help create a plan that best meets your needs.

Attorney Sean Downing is a senior attorney with the Dedham firm of Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, which focuses on advising its clients in the areas of Trust and estate planning, estate settlement, and elder law matters. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney. For more information visit ssbllc.com or call 781-461-1020.

© 2026 Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC

Five Things Your Estate Plan Allows You to Be Thankful For 

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Estate planning is hard.  Discussing topics like incapacity, death and taxes are unpleasant.  It’s the reason why an estimated two-thirds of Americans do not have an estate plan.  But like many hard things, after it is done there is a sense of accomplishment and relief, and in many cases gratitude.  Estate planning may be something you have been putting off for years, if not decades.  Getting it done is a great feeling, and something that benefits not just you but your loved ones.  Estate planning is an essential aspect of financial well-being and ensuring that your assets and loved ones are protected.  Here are five things to be thankful for when your estate plan is done.

1. Peace of Mind

One of the most significant benefits of estate planning is the peace of mind it provides. Knowing that your affairs are in order and that your loved ones will be taken care of in the event of your passing can be a great source of comfort. For families with minor children, estate planning means you have put in place a plan for your children to be taken care of by someone you choose if you pass away while they are still young.  It also means that you have created a trust so inherited assets can be managed for young children until they are mature enough to take control of those assets themselves.  Estate planning minimizes the potential for family disputes over assets, designates decision-makers of your choice, and makes the difficult process of grieving much more manageable for your heirs.

2. Control Over Your Legacy

Estate planning allows you to have control over your legacy. You get to decide how your assets will be distributed, who will receive them, and under what conditions, and who will oversee that process.  Holding assets in trust for minor children or a beneficiary with special needs is important.  It may also be important for older children for whom asset protection is a concern due to an unstable marriage, a pattern of mismanagement of assets, profligate spending, creditor issues, gambling issues or substance abuse.  This control ensures that your assets are used in a way that aligns with your values and priorities. Whether you want to support your family, friends, favorite charities, or any other cause close to your heart, estate planning allows you to make that happen.

3. Tax Efficiency

Effective estate planning, especially in a state such as Massachusetts with a separate state estate tax, can reduce the tax burden on your estate, leaving more of your assets to your loved ones. By using strategies like trusts, gifts, and other tax-efficient mechanisms, you can maximize the wealth you pass on to the next generation.  If you have a large IRA or other tax-deferred retirement plan, the estate planning process will help you understand how the income tax on these assets will impact you and your heirs.  You will be thankful for the opportunity to minimize the impact of these taxes on your estate and your heirs to ensure that your beneficiaries inherit as much as possible.

4. Smooth Transition of Assets

The estate planning process starts with compiling information about the assets you own, how they are owned, and how beneficiaries are designated.  Creating such an inventory and keeping it up to date will go a long way toward helping the people who are implementing your estate plan carry out their duties efficiently.  Ensuring your assets are owned properly and beneficiaries are designated appropriately and consistent with your plan is an important part of estate planning and will ensure your plan works as intended.  In Massachusetts, where the probate process can take a year or more to complete, the use of Trusts in an estate plan can avoid the probate process and allow for immediate access to assets at death.  This means that your beneficiaries will receive their inheritance more quickly and with far less delay and frustration. The ability to provide a seamless transfer of wealth will give you peace of mind and will be a source of gratitude for your heirs after your death.

5. Your Team

It takes a village, as they say, and estate settlement and trust administration is no exception.  If planning is done properly, an important part of the legacy you leave will be a team of advisors – your estate planning attorney, your accountant and your financial advisor – who will guide and advise your family after your lifetime while ensuring your estate plan is carried out according to your instructions.  Introducing your family to these team members while you are alive can ensure an even more seamless transition.  You will be thankful for the guidance your team provides you during your lifetime and will have peace of mind knowing they will be there to guide your family after your death.

Estate planning offers peace of mind, control over your legacy, tax efficiency, a smooth transition of assets, and a team that will guide you and your loved ones through whatever the future brings.  If you have not already created your estate plan, start the process.  If you have an estate plan in place, make sure it is up to date.  And while you are planning, be thankful for the opportunity estate planning provides to secure your family’s future, provide for charitable causes, and make your passing more manageable for those you leave behind. Your heirs will certainly thank you after you’re gone.

Maria C. Baler, Esq. is an estate planning and elder law attorney and partner at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, a law firm based in Dedham. She is also a former director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (MassNAELA), and the former President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys. For more information, visit www.ssbllc.com or call (781) 461-1020. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney.

November 2023

© 2023 Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC

 

What’s New at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC – Don’t Miss Our January 2023 Newsletter

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Don’t Miss Our January 2023 Newsletter

Attorney Abigail Poole discusses our current newsletter, for our Smart Counsel for Lunch Series. Please watch and if you have any questions or want to learn more please call us at 781 461-1020.

Five Taxes your Heirs May Pay (or not) After your Death

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Most people understand that estate planning and inheritance planning involves making sure that people you trust can make decisions for you if you become incapacitated during your lifetime, and making sure your assets go where you want them to go when you die.  It should also involve identifying and planning to minimize the five different types of taxes that may be payable by your heirs after your death.

  1. Federal Estate Tax – When a United States citizen or resident passes away, the estate of the deceased person may be required to file a federal estate tax return and may have to pay a federal estate tax. The estate tax is a one-time tax that is payable after death on the value of your “estate”, which is essentially any assets you own or control at the time of your death.  A federal estate tax return is due on the nine-month anniversary of the deceased’s date of death, and any estate tax due must be paid by that time to avoid interest and penalties from accruing.

The good news for most people is that the federal estate tax exemption is $11.58 million as of January 1, 2020 ($11.4 million in 2019).  This means that if the value of the assets you own at the time of your death (your so-called “taxable estate”) is less than the exemption amount, you do not have to file a return or pay a federal estate tax.  Estate tax is also not payable on the value of assets left to your surviving spouse or to charity.  The federal estate tax exemption is adjusted annually for inflation.  On December 31, 2025, the federal tax law that gave us such a large federal exemption amount will “sunset” unless Congress takes action.  Upon sunset, the federal estate tax exemption amount will revert to the prior level, adjusted for inflation, most likely a little more than $5 million.

If your “estate” is greater than the federal estate tax exemption, speak to your estate tax planning attorney and tax advisors about planning steps you can take to reduce or eliminate any federal estate tax your estate may have to pay.  Don’t forget about trusts when it comes to estate tax –  certain type of trusts, as well as gifting strategies, including charitable giving, can be effectively reduce the estate tax payable at death.

Keep in mind that even if you do not owe federal estate tax at death, it may still be advisable for the Personal Representative of your estate (formerly known as your Executor) to file a federal estate tax return so that your surviving spouse’s estate can take advantage of your unused federal estate tax exemption.

  1. State estate tax – If you live in Massachusetts, you live in one of 18 states plus the District of Columbia that has a separate state estate or inheritance tax. If you die a Massachusetts resident, your estate must file a Massachusetts estate tax return if the value of your estate is $1 million or more.  This is a relatively low threshold.  For many residents of Massachusetts who own a home, have a retirement account of significant value, and own life insurance, this is a tax they should be aware of and plan for.

There are several bills pending in the state legislature that would raise the Massachusetts estate tax exemption amount, however none of them has succeeded to date.   Until the exemption amount is increased, as with the federal estate tax, the Massachusetts estate tax can be reduced if not eliminated with thoughtful estate tax planning with the advice of your attorney.  As with the federal estate tax, a Massachusetts estate tax return must be filed and any tax paid within nine months after death.

  1. Personal Income Tax – No matter what time of year you pass away, final state and federal income tax returns will have to be filed to report the income you earned or received during the year of your death from January 1 through the date of your death. It is important to keep good records of your income and deductions, and to keep your tax records organized, so that your heirs or others who are settling your estate will be able to provide your tax preparer with the information necessary to prepare your final personal income tax returns, and so that those returns can be filed timely to avoid penalties and interest that may accrue and be payable by your estate.

It is also important to keep your personal income tax filings up to date while you are alive.  Collecting information necessary to file the deceased’s final personal income tax returns is hard enough.  Trying to reconstruct past years’ records in order to file returns that are past due is difficult, time consuming, and can be very expensive when interest and penalties for unpaid taxes start to add up.  Keep in mind that the Personal Representative of your estate can be personally liable for any unpaid tax liabilities. This is not a legacy anyone should leave.

  1. Fiduciary Income Tax – The fiduciary income tax is a little-known income tax payable by estates and trusts on income earned during the year. For example, if you die owning 1000 shares of Exxon stock and a three-family rental property, those assets are part of your “estate” at your death. The dividend income received on the Exxon stock and the rental income paid by the tenants residing in your rental property after your death is “income” earned by your estate.  This income must be reported on a fiduciary income tax return each year your estate remains open.  If these assets are owned by a trust, income earned on trust assets is also reported on a fiduciary income tax return.

Fiduciary income tax can be very steep, considering that the tax brackets are such that estates and trusts reach the highest federal income tax bracket of 37% at only $12,750 of income.  To avoid paying unnecessary fiduciary income tax, it is best to plan with your attorney to ensure your estate will be administered efficiently, and that any trust you create is structured properly with tax savings in mind, even if assets will stay in trust for the benefit of your heirs.

  1. Income Tax on Retirement Accounts– The government kindly allows us to save money in our retirement accounts – IRAs, 401ks, 403bs – without paying federal or state income tax on the funds contributed to those accounts. The end result is that many people have large “qualified” retirement accounts on which income tax has never been paid.

The tax laws require money to be withdrawn from retirement accounts, and state and federal income tax paid, when we reach a certain age, or within a certain period of time after the account owner dies.  The SECURE Act, signed into law by President Trump just before Christmas as part of the budget bill, makes significant changes to these rules.

If you have large retirement accounts, it is important to understand the changes made to these tax rules by the SECURE Act, how much your beneficiaries will have to withdraw from these accounts and when, and to plan to minimize the income taxes payable on those distributions if possible. This is not as easy as it used to be now that the SECURE Act is law; however, there are still planning options to consider that can have a big impact on how much of those accounts may be lost to income taxes after your death.

Death and taxes (and estate tax and income tax planning!) are not most people’s favorite topic (present company excluded), however you can save your heirs a lot of money, and maximize the inheritance they receive, if you take the time to understand the taxes that are potentially payable at death and take steps to plan to minimize or eliminate these taxes before they become due.

Maria Baler, Esq. is an estate planning and elder law attorney and partner at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC, a law firm based in Dedham. She is also a former director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (MassNAELA), and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Attorneys. For more information, visit www.ssbllc.com or call (781) 461-1020. This article is not intended to provide legal advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney.

January, 2020

© 2020 Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC

In Estate Planning, Preparation Is Key

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It is everyone’s hope that they will die after they have managed to get everything in order so that their family will have an easy time of it and not be left picking up the pieces.  Here are some things to put on your Estate Planning To Do list, to make it easier on your family if you depart this world before tying up all the loose ends:

  1. Identify a place in your house where you keep important information and documents and let trusted family members (or personal representatives) know where that is. I suggest a well-organized filing cabinet with clearly labeled folders containing important information and copies of your legal documents such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health care proxies.
  2. Create a list of your assets that includes the institution where each account is located, the account number, your contact person at that institution (if any) and their contact information. Include on this list bank accounts, investment accounts, annuities, life insurance, retirement accounts, etc.    Keep this list updated, and in the place where you keep other important papers so that it can be found.
  3. If you have original stock certificates, savings bonds, cash or other valuables in your house, make a note of where those items are kept so that they are not overlooked or inadvertently thrown out.
  4. Don’t forget digital estate planning. Create a list of usernames and passwords for any important online accounts – financial, photo storage, email, social media, document storage accounts. Keep this list updated and in the place where you keep other important papers so that it can be found.
  5. If you have young children or a child with special needs, consider a letter of instruction that provides important information about your child – the name and contact information for their physician, allergies, other important medical information and other things you think someone should know if they had to care for your children unexpectedly.
  6. Review and update beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts in consultation with your estate planning attorney to ensure the designations do not disrupt the other provisions of your estate plan.
  7. Do your best to keep your income tax filings up-to-date so that your family will not have to try to piece together that information in order to file income tax returns after your death. This is a painful and expensive process that can lead to lingering liability for family members.
  8. If you have a safe deposit box, make sure at least one other trusted family member’s name is on the box so that they will have access after your death This is especially important if your original Will or other estate plan documents are in the box.
  9. And finally, make sure your estate plan documents are up-to-date, and that you have left instructions for your family regarding where to find them, and the contact information for your estate planning attorney.

Tackle one of these tasks every month, and within a year you will be leaving your family well-prepared if something unexpected occurs.

November, 2019

© 2019 Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC

Wills • Trusts • Elder Law • Long-Term Care Planning • Estates

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