Seven Financial Documents to Locate for Your Estate Planning Attorney

Now that you have begun creating your estate plan, you will quickly discover that the process encompasses nearly all aspects of your life. In order to create the most effective plan for your family, your attorney needs to understand your full personal and financial picture. Therefore, he will want to review all of your financial accounts. 

Financial Documentation to Bring to Your Estate Planning Meeting

In order to help your attorney create the best estate plan for your needs, you can start by gathering information that he will likely request at your first meeting. Following is a general overview of the financial paperwork that your attorney may find helpful:

1. Copies of account statements that show your most recent account balance.
2. Copies of account paperwork that shows who is the owner of the account.
3. Copies of the beneficiary designations for the account, if any.
4. Copies of life insurance policies, including beneficiary designations.
5. Copies of stock certificates.
6. Copies of long term care and disability insurance policies.
7. Contact information for your financial advisor. If your advisor is located within Orange County, your attorney may even invite him to join one or more of your estate-planning meetings.

It is important to note that this is a generalized list and that every individual’s situation is unique. Any legwork that you begin preparing in advance, however, will help the estate planning process to move more quickly. For this reason, we encourage you to share this information with your friends and family on Facebook. It may help someone you care about to get the ball rolling on planning his estate.