Deathbed Planning

If you are anestate planning attorney, what should you do after receiving a call that aclient has very little time to live? Here are nine topics you need to address quickly and efficiently:

1. Assesswhether your client is legally competent to create an estate plan.
2. Reviewexisting estate plans to determine if any updates need to be made.
3. Reviewbeneficiary designations to ensure they are in sync with the rest of the estateplan.
4. Take necessary steps to avoid probate.
5. Locatevital information to facilitate estate administration.
6. Makeinstructions for funeral arrangements.
7. Considermaking nontaxable gifts.
8. Converttheir traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
9. Selldepreciated assets.

See Amalia Levit Todryk & Kathryn A. Muldoon, Deathbed Planning: What You Can Do This Sideof Paradise, Wisconsin Lawyer, October 2013.