You’re ready to see your lawyer about having a will and possibly a trust document drafted. Before meeting with your lawyer, you need to spend a bit of time to gather all the documents necessary for your lawyer to give you sound and complete advice about what estate planning documents he needs to draft for you and how to plan your estate and save taxes.
- Most recent statements from all bank and brokerage accounts
- Most recent statement reflecting all retirement accounts
- Most recent statements of any stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs held outside of brokerage accounts
- Any life insurance policies
- Most recent pay stub
- Copies of tax returns for at least the last 3 years
- Most recent statements from all credit card or debt obligations
- Information regarding any real property, including but not limited to: fair market value of the home (tax accessed value), total mortgage amount, names of people on the mortgage and title
- Information regarding any automobiles and motor vehicles
- Copies of any previously drafted wills, trusts, power of attorney, health care proxy, health care directive or living will
- Copy of your prenuptial agreement, if any
- Any and all of the above documents for your spouse
