For instance, have you considered placing some portion of your investments into assets that are difficult for creditors to reach? Have you made sure that you are properly insured for unexpected liabilities? Do you have proper health insurance and maybe long term care insurance? Does your family have a need for your continued support after you pass? If so, do you have any life insurance? Have you named someone to make financial and medical decisions for you in the event you are unable to make these decisions because of illness or otherwise?

In the event you need someone to make decisions for you because of an unexpected illness or otherwise, and you have not named someone to make these decisions, your family will need to commence a guardianship proceeding with the court. This is an expensive process that can be minimized and possibly avoided with proper planning.

Once you deal with these lifetime issues, you can then turn your attention to your last will and testament, and decide who gets what and under what circumstances. This is an important step as well. You really need to consider your desires and the needs of your family. If this is not properly done, it can cost your estate and family lots of money to resolve.

Assuming you now have your last will and testament in place, you now need to coordinate your assets with your estate plan. Are you going to transfer your assets to a trust? If so, you need to coordinate beneficiary designations and the like to make sure your assets pass like you plan them too. Many folks miss this part of the planning and think they are done once they sign their will.

Estate planning is a complicated process if you try to take it all in at once. However, if you engage in proper planning, and take it on one decision at a time, you can put together a plan that accomplishes your goals without risking your assets in the process.