5 Estate Planning Questions to Ask Before You Travel

by Jenny Ling, Esq.

Does your estate plan (or lack thereof) come to mind every time you head out on vacation?  While you make your vacation plans, like buying your airplane tickets or checking out hotels, be sure you are also reviewing your estate plan before you travel.  Here are 5 estate planning questions you should ask yourself before you travel.

1.Do you have a plan in place?

If you have been procrastinating about making your estate plan, use your next trip as your deadline to finally get this done.  DIY estate plans, like you may find from an online source, can seem great – you can get this much needed task completed and hopefully save yourself some money.  But a poorly designed estate plan can lead to problems for your family – like probate expenses, adult guardianship, family infighting (and ruined relationships), having your estate plan rejected outright, and more.  An experienced estate planning attorney does more than just draft documents.  We help guide you through the process of deciding the legacy you want to leave.

2.If you have a plan, is it up to date?

An estate plan that is out of date can put you and your family at risk.  You spent the time and effort needed to create an estate plan that will protect your family – make sure it can grow with your family.  If it’s been more than 3 years since your estate plan was created or you’ve had a major life change, like a marriage, divorce, or had a child or grandchild, it’s time to review and update your estate plan.

Once you’ve created your estate plan, it is essential that you make sure the plan will actually work for your family.  Be sure that your beneficiary designations have been updated to reflect your wishes.

3.Do you have a plan for your children?

If you have minor children at home, it is essential that you make a plan for them, specifically by naming a guardian to care for them if something happens to you.  You should review those guardians on a regular basis to ensure that those you have selected are still the best choice.  These are people who you trust to care for your children, and even potentially raise them into adulthood.

4.Do you have a plan for incapacity?

An unforeseen illness or injury can leave you incapacitated and unable to make critical decisions about your health and well-being.  Before you head out on vacation, you must grant someone the legal authority to make those decisions on your behalf.  You should ask yourself, “If I am ever incapacitated and can’t make my own decisions, who do I want making decisions on my behalf”?  You will need powers of attorney for financial matters as well as health care decision making.

If you already have powers of attorney in place, be sure to review these as your choices may have changed due to age, family circumstances or where everyone lives.  Also, some banks have refused to honor powers of attorney that are more than 5 years old so ensure you have signed one in the last 5 years.

5.Do you have an inventory of your assets?

More than $85 billion is sitting in the departments of unclaimed property around the U.S.  Most of it got there when people did not know what to look for after their loved ones died and the assets were sent to the state to hold.  As part of our comprehensive estate plans, we help you create an Asset Inventory Spreadsheet so that your family knows exactly what assets you hold. 

When you are creating your inventory of assets, be sure to include your digital assets.  These may be assets with financial value, like bitcoin or cryptocurrency, or money in your Venmo or Paypal accounts.  They may also be assets without financial value, like thousands of treasured family photos you have stored on the cloud.  A well-crafted estate plan will ensure these items are not lost as well.

Queer families

If you are a queer family, you may want to take the extra step of having a “to go” packet of important legal documents with you.  The last few years have seen a whirlwind of changes for queer families and it is encouraging to see.  However, we also live in the real world and there are real people who you may encounter that may not choose to respect your family.  Check out our 4 Things Every Queer Parent Should Pack on Vacation.

Make sure that you have a plan in place for your family’s future.  At The Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC, with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, we can help you create a plan that handles your assets in the exact manner that you wish, taking into account all of your family’s dynamics, so that if anything happens to you on vacation, your death or incapacity won’t be any more painful or expensive for your family than it needs to be.

If you are ready to make a comprehensive estate plan, Contact Us to schedule your complimentary 15-minute phone consultation and Make a Plan!

Jenny Ling is a partner at the Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC.  She focuses her practices on estate planning, business succession planning, business and bankruptcy.