A Financial Plan Checklist: An Essential Estate Planning Tool

Originally published on June 27, 2018. Updated March 12, 2023.

This estate planning tool and checklist is designed to help those in the last decades of their lives keep track of their important documents and information.

While there are software and web-based services, even a simple column of numbers in a spreadsheet will suffice as an estate planning tool. You can use our downloadable checklist as a guide to create a document that can easily be updated. Regardless of the technology, this is often a great opportunity for adult children to help their elders.

Note: Many of our clients with trusts take advantage of our ongoing support and use our Asset Trust Organizer™, which ensures that all assets are up to date.

We at Borchers Trust Law believe in the role of a good, holistic financial planner – typically an experienced planner who knows all the options and maybe (but not necessarily) is a certified financial planner CFP®.

What you want to avoid is a piecemeal approach. That means you – or the elder(s) of interest – get some advice from the banker, some from the broker and some from an insurance advisor (not to mention, Sonny, the lawyer and the CPA). A real plan is comprehensive, and tied to the estate plan.

Before you seek additional insight, use this estate planning tool to give you a great start making sure everything is in order and your elders are prepared for the next step. And be sure to download this checklist so you can have it anytime, anywhere.