Many people don’t think much about their own estate plan until they become inheritors and see how hard the process can be. In this video, we’ll cover practical, high-impact ways to make things easier for your children and heirs, especially if you want to reduce confusion, delays, and the potential for conflict.
Transcript
Many people don’t give much thought to their own estate plan until they themselves become inheritors and see how hard the process can be. Without an organized estate, your heirs can run into issues tracking down accounts, navigating probate, and in some cases even experiencing conflict between siblings.
In this video, we’re going to explore a few practical steps that can help minimize complications and reduce stress for your heirs.
Step #1: Consolidation & Simplicity
The first is the gift of simplicity.
Over time, people naturally accumulate accounts. You may have old employer 401ks, bank accounts that you may have forgotten to empty all the way, and various insurance policies or annuities. Consolidating accounts under one roof not only reduces the amount of time your kids will have to spend tracking down accounts, filling out paperwork, etc., but it will also help guarantee that they get 100% of their rightful inheritance.
Let me explain.
A study published in September 2025 found that there is now over $2 trillion in unclaimed forgotten 401ks. The average balance in a forgotten 401k is nearly $67,000. How would you feel if tens of thousands or more of your hard-earned dollars were lost for good?
Step #2: The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
Another benefit of consolidation is keeping your beneficiary designations up to date. This is another major area that often gets overlooked. It’s much easier to ensure your beneficiaries are up to date by having most or all of your accounts in one place. If you’re thinking, I have a trust or I have a will that will take care of that, pause. In most cases, beneficiary forms on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and many other account types trump the will or trust.
This issue was affirmed by a 2001 Supreme Court ruling Egelhoff v. Egelhoff where the court confirmed that beneficiary designations override what’s written in a will, even if those designations were made decades earlier. And unfortunately, money going to ex-spouses or other former heirs because of outdated beneficiary designations is more common than you might think.
In fact, years ago when one of our clients came on board, we discovered that his ex-wife was still named as beneficiary on all his accounts. And mind you, they had been separated for nearly a decade at the time.
All this is to say is that checking your beneficiary designations regularly, at least every three to five years, and after major life events, is one way to help ensure your wealth ends up in the right hands.
Step #3: One-Page Asset Tracker
The next step is making things easy to find. One of the most effective and easy tools for this is a One-Page Asset Tracker. This can be a simple document that lists your financial accounts and at which institution they’re held, contact information for any advisors or insurance agents, insurance policies, real estate holdings, other physical assets, and the location of your estate documents like trusts, wills, power of attorney documents, etc..
This should be stored somewhere safe and importantly, you need to tell your kids where to find it in the event of your passing. By updating this document annually or at least regularly, you can help prevent accounts from going missing and save your kids the detective work.
Step #4: Should I Name My Child as the Executor/Trustee?
Finally, we at Hello Inheritance have an opinion that might go against the traditional advice, but hear me out.
You may want to consider naming someone other than one of your kids as successor trustee or executor of your estate.
Why? Well, we have witnessed families fall into conflict after the death of a loved one, sometimes causing irreversible damage to their relationship. Even if you’ve documented your wishes thoroughly and have a clearly drawn out estate plan, there can still be disagreements, resentment, and strife between your kids. This issue touched me personally when my grandma passed away. I can assure you it’s quite common. So what do you do instead?
Well, by choosing a professional fiduciary or corporate trustee, it removes the pressure from your kids and can help preserve their relationships. This doesn’t apply to everyone, so it’s ultimately up to you and your trusted professionals to help decide what’s best for your family. If you do name one of your children as the successor trustee, it’s important to have a conversation with your kids about your reasons for doing so, your wishes, and your desire to have them put their relationships with each other above the money.
It also gives them an opportunity to ask questions and gain clarity about your wishes so they know what to expect when the time comes.
The Gist
At the end of the day, you can’t control everything, but you can make things far easier for the next generation. You can ensure they receive the assets they’re entitled to by consolidating your accounts and making sure your beneficiaries are up to date, by creating documentation such as a trust or asset tracker that can be used as a guide after you’re gone, and protect their relationships by taking the pressure of big decisions off their shoulders.
Disclosures
This content is for educational purposes only and is not specific investment advice. Advisory services for Hello Inheritance are offered through Bourke Wealth Management. Please visit www.bourkewealth.com for important investor information.
Bourke Wealth Management is a registered investment adviser. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Bourke Wealth Management and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Bourke Wealth Management unless a client service agreement is in place.
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