There is a beautiful, human ritual around Spring Cleaning: we take what may have been mothballed or put in the corner, dust it off, and let it breathe in the open air and sunlight so it can shine again. The ritual is rooted in practicality but has a larger meaning, in that we are taking care of our things so that they can take care of us.
What is meant for the home is also good for the family estate. Our oft-quoted inspiration Kurt Supe CPA had a recent X post about the mid-year estate checklist, and it offers four concrete actions to take now plus one bonus item if you’re able, since a “15-minute review now beats a disaster your family discovers later.”
- Check Your Beneficiaries - “This is the big one. The names on your 401(k), IRA, and life insurance override your will. An ex-spouse listed there gets the money, no matter what your will says.”
- Core Four Documents - “A will, a financial power of attorney, a healthcare directive, and, for many families, a trust. Missing one creates a gap your family pays for.”
- Re-Read Your Power of Attorney - “If you couldn't make decisions tomorrow, is the right person named? Is it still someone you'd trust with everything?”
- Have the Family Conversation - “The best plan fails if no one knows it exists. Tell your family where the documents are and who's in charge before they need to find out the hard way.”
The last item is so critical. Is a plan good when no one knows where it is? Do we want this conversation around the kitchen table or over a hospital bed? Can your spouse or Next Generation access your estate documents securely, online, in an organized manner? Does your paperwork actually follow your intent and wishes? Are you setting the Next Generation up to thrive or deal with your lack of planning?
Lastly, Mr Supe implores families to know the Gift Tax codes. “In 2026 the federal estate tax exemption rose to $15 million per person, $30 million per couple. Use the annual gift. You can give $19,000 per person this year, to as many people as you want, with no tax filing. A couple can give $38,000 to each child or grandchild. It moves wealth out of your estate quietly.”
Being able to move this kind of liquidity and assets to the Next Generation, tax free, is obviously a goal but not quite attainable by every family. And that’s OK. First, we need to take stock of what the ground truth actually is and account for all of the documents and assets in an estate. Once we’ve organized, we are then in a position to optimize.
We can do this work now to ensure that our estate is in order. We can help ourselves and our families. Together, we can move our family legacies forward…