As you’re making your estate plan, you’ll want to carefully consider everything. This means it may take a while to complete your plan. Here are five things to watch out for along the way.

There are many stories of strange conditions in wills and trusts over time. For example, the German poet Heinrich ‘Henry’ Heine died in 1856 and left his estate to his wife, Matilda, on the condition that she remarry, so that ‘there will be at least one man to regret my death’.

If you have a mortgage, you might worry about what that means for your heirs and loved ones. Will they be able to keep your home, and who will be responsible for paying for it?

Usually when asked to be the executor of a family member’s estate, the person feels honored and trusted. It’s a big responsibility, since the executor will be carrying out a person’s final wishes.

Even those with the best of intentions can fall into the trap of estate planning misinformation. Estate planning attorneys frequently hear rumors and ill advice disguised as facts.

Sometimes people attempt to make an estate plan online without consulting legal and financial professionals to avoid the higher cost. However, everyone’s situation is unique, and using a boilerplate estate plan can lead to mistakes.

A will is a legal document that spells out the distribution of your assets and how your children will be cared for at your death. Probate is a process used to prove a decedent’s will is valid and to supervise the handling of their estate.

If you’ve had an IRA and a 401(k) for many years, you may occasionally ask yourself some questions: ‘Am I contributing enough?’ ‘Am I still funding these accounts with the right mix of investments for my goals and risk tolerance?

Perhaps one of the most difficult, and increasingly common, estate planning questions involves the inclusion or disinheritance of an estranged child.