April 10, 2026

By Douglas Murphy

Death is a certainty.  A final act of love you can make for your spouse or children is a well-done estate plan to facilitate the transfer of your assets to the intended beneficiaries seamlessly, without conflict, question or large administrative burden.  These five questions are intended to assist you in making this gift to your loved ones:

#1: Do you have a will in place?

The first, and likely most important question is: do you have an existing estate planning document in place, whether that is a Last Will and Testament or Revocable Trust?  If you don’t, this is the place to start. Your Will (or Revocable Trust) will direct your assets to your intended beneficiaries and ensure that the proper person is in charge of the administration.

#2: Are your beneficiary designations completed and up to date?

Life insurance policies and retirement accounts pass outside of your Will and are controlled by beneficiary designations. For each of your life insurance and retirement plans, confirm that a beneficiary designation has been completed and matches your desires.

#3 Do you know all your assets?  Does your spouse or loved ones?

Do you have a list of all your bank/investment accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies and other assets?  Often a stray credit union account or life insurance policy can go undiscovered by a surviving spouse, or the surviving family has to go on a scavenger hunt to determine which banks hold which accounts.  An organized, simple document summarizing accounts, and even how to access, can save the beneficiaries hours of work in their time of grief.

#4 Have you avoided probate?

Having a Will, up-to-date beneficiary designations, and an organized list of assets will allow your loved ones to grieve without adding a large administrative burden to their plate.  To go even one step further, you can strive to avoid probate – the process by which your assets are transferred from your personal name to the named beneficiary with court supervision. Probate is public record, time consuming, and costly.  By implementing a Revocable Trust (and funding), you can remove all your assets from probate and the administrative headaches that come with it.

#5 Do your loved ones know your wishes for a funeral? 

One of the first things that your loved ones will have to do after you pass is plan your funeral.  By spending time during your life to outline what funeral home you want to use, any religious ceremony that you desire, and any other final wishes, you can remove burden and guesswork from your grieving loved ones.

(McLean, Virginia-based Douglas Murphy is an attorney specializing in estate planning/probate.  Contact him at D.E. Murphy PLLC at demurphy@demurphylaw.com or [703] 512-6069.)