The end of the year is when we check the smoke detectors, look at the budget, and make plans for January. It is also the easiest time to check your estate plan, because the year's changes are fresh in your mind.
Most of this list takes an hour or less. If something needs fixing, you will start the new year knowing exactly what to do.
1. Look back at the year
Estate plans go out of date when life changes. Did anything on this list happen to you or your family this year?
- A marriage, divorce, or new partner
- A birth, adoption, or a child turning 18
- A death in the family, including someone named in your plan
- A new home, a sale, or a refinance
- A new business, or a move to or from California
- A diagnosis or a change in health
If any of these happened, your plan may need an update. Our article on fixing an outdated trust explains what an update usually involves.
2. Find your documents
Can you put your hands on your will or trust, your power of attorney, and your advance health care directive today? If not, this is the year to gather them in one place and tell one trusted person where that place is.
3. Check the people you named
Read the names in your documents. Is your successor trustee still the right choice? Is your health care agent still close by and willing? Is the guardian you named for your children still the person you would choose? People move, relationships change, and that is normal. Your documents should keep up.
4. Review your beneficiary designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and accounts with a "payable on death" designation go to whoever is named on the form, not to whoever is named in your will. Log in or call each company and confirm the names. This is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes we see. Our article on beneficiary designation errors has examples.
The Year-End Estate Plan Checklist
Every step on this page as a checklist you can tick off on your phone, or print and keep with your papers.
Open the checklist5. Make sure your trust is funded
A living trust only controls what is titled in its name. If you bought a home, opened an account, or refinanced this year, check that the new asset belongs to the trust. A refinance in particular can take a home out of a trust without anyone noticing. Our trust funding checklist walks through each kind of asset.
6. Talk to your CPA before December 31
Some decisions have a calendar deadline. The federal annual gift tax exclusion resets every January 1, so gifts you want counted for this year need to be made by December 31. If you have reached the age for required minimum distributions from a retirement account, ask your CPA or plan administrator whether this year's distribution has been taken. Charitable gifts you want to count for this tax year also need to be made before the year ends. Your CPA can tell you what applies to you.
7. Tell the right people where things are
A plan your family cannot find does not help them. Make a short list of where your documents, accounts, insurance policies, and passwords are, and make sure your successor trustee or a trusted family member knows where the list is. The holidays are a natural time to have that conversation. Our article on starting the estate planning conversation can help.
If you do not have a plan yet
Then the most important item on this list is the first appointment. Without a plan, California law decides who inherits, who manages your affairs if you cannot, and, for parents of minor children, who the court considers as guardian. Our article on the cost of not having an estate plan explains what that can look like.
How MVP Law Group can help
We review existing plans, update trusts, and prepare new plans for California families. If your checklist turned up a gap, call (818) 788-7881 or book a free consultation, and start the new year with a plan that matches your life. We serve families in English, Spanish, and Russian.
This article is general information about California law as of November 2026, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For tax questions, speak with your CPA. For advice about your estate plan, speak with an attorney. Attorney Advertising.