11.4.7 Estate planning checklist

From: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Review the tips below. Decide if each one is suitable for you or not, if you plan to do it, or if you need to look into it more. Mark each one in the appropriate column.

Estate planning checklist

	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Leave a will	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Name beneficiaries in insurance and other policies	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Plan your funeral	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Prepay your funeral	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Buy life insurance to cover expenses	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Give gifts before death	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Spend unsheltered assets first	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Use final registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contributions	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Buy permanent life insurance as an investment	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Transfer property to joint ownership	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Set up a trust fund(s)	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me
Make arrangements in case of incapacity	Done	Will do	Will look into it	Not for me

Download the interactive PDF and add it to your Financial Toolkit [PDF - 212 KB]

For each item in the Will do column, set yourself a deadline to get it done. For each item in the Will look into it column, decide where you'll get more information or who to talk to about it.

Most of the items listed will need some professional planning. It's better to spend some time and money to make sure you have everything arranged the way you want it, than to leave behind problems that your loved ones may be unable to do anything about.

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Date modified:: 2023-02-20