If you have recently received a serious medical diagnosis, now is the time to accomplish some of the most important estate planning and financial tasks to verify that you have done as much as possible to protect yourself. 
One of the first steps that you need to take must be designating beneficiaries. Far too many people assume that their will trumps all the other beneficiary designations listed on things like retirement accounts, life insurance, and certain types of brokerage accounts.
While this might seem like a very basic step, it is also one that can help enable things to be much easier if you were to suddenly pass away. Beneficiary designations override what is listed in your will for these specific types of accounts and assets and you want to make sure that these assets don’t go through the probate process, so it’s well worth the effort you put in to make things easier for your loved ones.
Another good thing to consider is that plenty of brokerages across the United States allow you to attach transfer on death instructions to your non-retirement accounts. If you own real estate in multiple states, make sure that you discuss the options to have a transfer on death deed. While not every state will allow these, including exceptions such as Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, you’ll want your estate planning attorney to help prepare you if you do have multiple properties spread across the entire country.
The next step that you should take in your end of life planning is to list out all of your liabilities, including your mortgage, your credit card debt and your loans.
Any insurance policies that you have for your vehicles, your home or your health will also be helpful. You don’t want your loved ones scrambling to find this information in the event of an emergency. A knowledgeable estate planning attorney is valuable to consult with during this process.
There are so many different issues and psychological challenges to confront in the process of doing sudden end of life planning, but laws may have changed since you signed your existing documents, meaning that the plan you put in place years ago might no longer be accurate.
