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15 Essential Estate Planning Documents

TrustWhen a death occurs in a family, the person in charge of the estate will need to gather legal documents.  Many of these documents need to be originals and include:

  1. Last will and testament
  2. Revocable living trust
  3. Irrevocable living trusts
  4. Birth certificate
  5. Social Security Card
  6. Marriage license
  7. U.S. citizenship papers
  8. Insurance policies, contracts, and paperwork
  9. Bank account documents
  10. Current deeds to property
  11. Auto title in the deceased’s name (or joint name)
  12. Most recent income tax returns
  13. Veterans discharge papers
  14. Current disability claims
  15. Documents recording a cemetery deed 

See Christopher Hill, 15 Legal Documents Needed When Death Occurs, Producers Web, June 19, 2014.   

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.