Estate Planning Online: Preparing to Meet Your Estate Planner

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Your first meeting with your estate-planning attorney needs to be a working meeting, which means that you need to bring a file that includes copies of bank and brokerage statements and your existing will or trust (if you have one). If you're prepared, such a meeting can be a time to review your personal information and discuss fees. The following quick checklist gives you an idea of what you need to prepare before the meeting with your estate-planning attorney. Use the Internet to help you gather the documents you'll need:

• An inventory of your assets. You can use the online estate-planning calculators we mention shortly to help you get started.
• Copies of auto titles, home deeds, and other assets in your inventory.
• A printed copy of your most recent brokerage account statement.
• Copies of your insurance policies. If they're locked up in your safe- deposit box, bring copies of your paid insurance policy invoices.
• Copies of your pension plans. You may want to contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) for your latest statement.
• Copies of paperwork for large debts. For example, go online and print a copy of your most recent mortgage and credit card statements.
• Copies of any existing wills or trusts and previously filed gift tax returns that you may have. The status of these documents may determine whether your estate plan stays the same or whether you haves to start over.
• Copies of any powers of attorney or letters of intent or last instructions that you may have completed and signed.
• Social Security numbers of members of your family.
• Copies of all family members' medical insurance cards. This information may be used to clear up any misunderstandings that may occur.

For online information about preparing to meet with your estate planner, check out the online sources in the following list. Although these Web sites promote the services of different organizations, they also include valuable estate-planning information and data sheets.

• eXtension.org (www.extension.org/pages/Getting_Ready_for_Estate_Planning_Lesson) is an interactive learning environment for researched knowledge from land-grant university minds across America. eXtension offers a full estate planning tutorial. In Step 2: Take Stock of the Present, you'll uncover downloadable estate-planning checklists. Completing the checklists before your first visit to an estate planner can save you time and money.
• Deloitte (www.deloitte.com) provides timely articles, tools, and advisors to ensure that your plan addresses your family's values and long-term goals. On the Deloitte home page, pull down the Global Site Selector menu and choose United States. Next, click Services, click Tax, then Private Client Advisors. On the Client Advisors page click on the link to the Essential Tax & Wealth Planning Guide for 2008. This 56-page guide provides information about how to review current personal tax and wealth-planning situations. You'll gain an understanding of the current tax environment and recent regulatory changes, see how these changes may affect your tax situation this year and in the future, and get a grip on what steps you can take now before year-end.
• Prudential (www.prudential.com/view/page/public/14331) offers an online estate preservation calculator. This calculator can assist you in quickly and easily forecasting your gross estate for 10, 20, or 30 years and calculate your estate taxes in the privacy of your home or office. You'll need to provide a summary of your assets with appropriate growth rates, information about existing life insurance, and answers to a few simple questions.

This article was authored by Ted Benna, Stephen R. Bucci, James P. Caher, John M. Caher, N. Brian Caverly, Peter Economy, Jack Hungelmann, John E. Lucas, Sarah Glendon Lyons, Margaret A. Munro, Brenda Watson Newmann, Mary Reed, Jordan S. Simon, Kathleen Sindell, Deborah Taylor-Hough, John Ventura.