The people involved in your estate plan

Points to know

• Among those who'll help you ensure your wishes are carried out are an estate planning attorney and an executor, which can be an individual or an entity such as a law firm.
• If you have a trust, you'll need at least one trustee to invest and manage the trust's assets, among other responsibilities.
• When you name beneficiaries for your retirement accounts, keep in mind the rules around how they can inherit the accounts and when they must take required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Estate planning attorney

You'll need to retain the services of an estate planning attorney who can offer you advice and guidance on your strategies and draw up your estate planning documents.

Executor

Your executor (or personal representative) is responsible for gathering your assets upon your death, managing and maintaining those assets, completing the administrative and tax responsibilities of your estate, and distributing assets according to your wishes.

These tasks usually take from 6 to 24 months to complete.

You can name either a person or an entity (like a law firm) as your executor. You'll obviously want to discuss your decision with your chosen executor and make sure they're willing and able to perform all the necessary responsibilities.

Trustee

If you have a trust, you'll need to designate at least one trustee.

A trustee is the person or company that holds the legal title to the assets in a trust. A trustee is responsible for investing and managing the trust assets, distributing the assets in accordance with the terms of the trust, keeping accurate records, and filing all necessary tax returns.

A trustee can be an individual, such as a family member, or an entity, such as Vanguard National Trust Company.

As you make your choice, keep in mind that administering and managing a trust can be a lot of work. You could consider naming a close family member or friend and a corporate trustee to act as co-trustees, with the corporate trustee taking on much of the administrative burden.

See the trust services offered through Vanguard

Successor trustee

If you've created a revocable trust, you can act as trustee during your lifetime, but you'll also need to appoint a successor trustee to assume control of the trust after your death or in the event you become mentally incapacitated.

As with a trustee, a successor trustee can be a person or an entity.

Beneficiary

Your beneficiaries are the individuals or entities entitled to receive part or all of the assets in your trusts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and annuities. You'll generally name your beneficiaries when you purchase a policy or open an account.

You can also name beneficiaries on other types of investment accounts through a transfer on death designation.

If it's been a while since you named beneficiaries, you'll want to make sure they still reflect your wishes.

See the impact of naming different types of beneficiaries

Durable power of attorney agent

A durable power of attorney (POA) agent is an individual who's been granted the ability to handle your financial affairs. Many people appoint an attorney-in-fact to act on their behalf if they become incapacitated.

It's important to discuss this role with the person you select and make sure they're prepared to take on the responsibilities if necessary. Make your wishes known, and choose someone you trust to carry them out.