Texas Estate Planning Starter Kit

A document inventory and intake guide to help you prepare for your estate planning consultation

Prepared by Prasla Law Firm PLLC · Greater Houston, Texas

Why this matters

Most estate plans are not technically complicated — they are organizationally complicated. The hard part is gathering the family information, asset details, and existing documents that allow the plan to actually fit your life. Showing up to your estate planning consultation with this information already organized turns a 90-minute meeting into a productive working session.

This kit walks through what to gather, what decisions to start thinking about, and what to bring to your consultation. It is educational only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Section 1 — Family information

Gather the following for yourself and (if applicable) your spouse and children:

Personal information

[ ] Full legal name (as on government ID)
[ ] Date of birth
[ ] Place of birth
[ ] Social Security number (have it; do not email it)
[ ] Citizenship status (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other)
[ ] Marital status and date of current marriage
[ ] Prior marriages, divorces, and dates
[ ] Children — full names, dates of birth, and whether biological, adopted, or stepchildren
[ ] Children from prior relationships
[ ] Grandchildren if you wish them included in planning
[ ] Parents (still living? names? addresses?)
[ ] Siblings (still living? names?)
[ ] Any family members with disabilities or special needs

Marriage and relationship documentation

[ ] Marriage certificate
[ ] Prenuptial or postnuptial agreement (if any)
[ ] Divorce decrees and any related property settlement agreements
[ ] Adoption documentation for any adopted children

Section 2 — Asset inventory

A clear picture of your assets drives almost every estate planning decision. Gather:

Real estate

[ ] Primary residence — address, approximate value, mortgage balance, how titled (sole, joint with right of survivorship, community property)
[ ] Other Texas real estate
[ ] Out-of-state real estate (this matters — out-of-state real estate often makes the case for a trust)
[ ] Foreign real estate
[ ] Land contracts or owner-financed property

Financial accounts

[ ] Checking accounts — institution and approximate balance
[ ] Savings accounts — institution and approximate balance
[ ] Money market accounts
[ ] Certificates of deposit
[ ] Brokerage / investment accounts — institution, approximate value, and beneficiary designations
[ ] Cryptocurrency holdings (and where the keys are stored)

Retirement accounts

[ ] 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plans — employer, approximate value, beneficiary designations
[ ] Traditional and Roth IRAs — institution, approximate value, beneficiary designations
[ ] Pensions — employer and projected benefit
[ ] Deferred compensation plans

Life insurance

[ ] Term life policies — carrier, face amount, beneficiary designations
[ ] Whole life or universal life — carrier, face amount, cash value, beneficiary designations
[ ] Group life through employer — carrier, face amount, beneficiary designations

Business interests

[ ] LLCs, corporations, partnerships — entity name, your ownership percentage, approximate value, related operating/shareholder/partnership/buy-sell agreements
[ ] Sole proprietorships
[ ] Anticipated future business equity (vested or unvested)

Other assets

[ ] Vehicles (cars, boats, RVs, motorcycles, aircraft) — title status
[ ] Valuable personal property (jewelry, art, collectibles, firearms — firearms have special transfer rules)
[ ] Intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks, royalties)
[ ] Loans owed to you (notes receivable)
[ ] Anticipated inheritance
[ ] Digital assets (online accounts, photos, email, social media, domain names, online business assets)

Liabilities

[ ] Mortgage balances
[ ] Auto loans
[ ] Student loans
[ ] Credit card debt
[ ] Personal loans
[ ] Business debts you have personally guaranteed

Section 3 — Existing estate planning documents

Bring copies of any existing:

[ ] Will
[ ] Trusts (revocable, irrevocable, special-needs, life insurance trusts)
[ ] Statutory Durable Power of Attorney
[ ] Medical Power of Attorney
[ ] Directive to Physicians (Living Will / Advance Directive)
[ ] HIPAA authorization
[ ] Declaration of Guardian for minor children or yourself
[ ] Declaration of Guardian in Advance of Need
[ ] Disposition of Remains
[ ] Any beneficiary designation forms on file (retirement accounts, life insurance, payable-on-death accounts)
[ ] Any prior estate planning correspondence or memoranda

If you don't have copies, note where the originals are kept (safe deposit box, prior attorney, in your home, etc.).

Section 4 — Beneficiary designations

This is one of the most important parts of estate planning that DIY plans most often get wrong. Confirm the current beneficiary designations on each of the following:

[ ] Each retirement account (401(k), IRA, pension)
[ ] Each life insurance policy
[ ] Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
[ ] Transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts
[ ] Annuities

Common problems: ex-spouses still listed, deceased relatives still listed, no contingent beneficiary, beneficiary designations conflicting with the will, minors directly named as beneficiaries (which usually requires court intervention to manage).

If you have not reviewed beneficiary designations in 5+ years, this alone is worth the meeting.

Section 5 — Decisions to start thinking about

You don't need final answers to all of these — your attorney will help you work through them. But thinking about them in advance makes the consultation far more productive.

Distribution

Who do you want to receive your assets at your death? In what proportions?
Are there gifts you want to make to specific people (jewelry, real estate, business interests, family heirlooms)?
Are there charitable beneficiaries you want to include?
Do you want any beneficiaries to receive their inheritance outright, or in trust?
For beneficiaries who will inherit in trust: at what age (if any) should they receive distributions?

Children — guardianship

If you have minor children, who would you nominate as guardian if both parents were unavailable? Have you discussed it with the proposed guardian?

Children — financial management for minors

A minor inheriting outright requires a court-appointed guardian to manage the funds. A trust avoids this. Who would you trust to manage funds for the benefit of your minor children?

Executor of your will

Who do you want to administer your estate when you die? Do you have a backup if your first choice is unwilling or unable?

Trustee (if you create a trust)

Who do you want to manage trust assets if you become incapacitated or after your death? Do you have a backup?

Powers of attorney

Who do you want to manage your finances and make medical decisions if you are unable to do so yourself? Same person for both, or different people?

Special situations

Blended family: How do you want to balance protection for your current spouse with provisions for children from prior relationships?
Disabled beneficiary: Are there beneficiaries whose inheritance should be structured to preserve government benefits (special-needs trust)?
Spendthrift beneficiary: Are there beneficiaries you want to receive support but not direct control of their inheritance?
Non-citizen spouse: Special tax planning may apply.
Closely held business: How does your business succession plan integrate with your estate plan?
Significant out-of-state assets: A revocable trust may avoid multi-state probate.

Disposition of remains

Burial, cremation, or other arrangements?
Specific funeral preferences?
Organ donation?

Section 6 — Trusted persons information

For each person you may name in your estate plan (executor, trustee, guardian, agent under power of attorney, alternates, beneficiaries):

[ ] Full legal name
[ ] Relationship to you
[ ] Date of birth
[ ] Address
[ ] Phone and email
[ ] Whether you have discussed the role with them

Section 7 — For business owners specifically

Bring or be ready to discuss:

[ ] Operating agreement, shareholder agreement, or partnership agreement
[ ] Any existing buy-sell agreement
[ ] Most recent business valuation (formal or informal)
[ ] Intended successor — family member, partner, employee, third party, or sale
[ ] Key-person insurance arrangements
[ ] Voting and management succession

Estate planning for business owners is rarely separable from business succession planning. Bring both into the conversation.

Section 8 — For real estate investors specifically

Bring or be ready to discuss:

[ ] List of properties owned, with approximate values and how titled
[ ] LLC or other entity structure holding the properties
[ ] Any planned sales, exchanges, or 1031 transactions
[ ] Mortgage information per property
[ ] Lender consent or due-on-sale concerns related to estate planning transfers

Section 9 — Questions to think about

What worries you most about not having a plan in place?
What would the worst-case outcome look like if you became incapacitated tomorrow?
What would you want to happen if you and your spouse both died in a common accident?
Are there family relationships that affect how you want assets distributed?
Are there family members who are estranged or who you do NOT want to inherit?
Is there a family business or property that has been in the family for generations and that you want preserved?
Do you have specific charitable causes that matter to you?

Section 10 — What to expect at your consultation

During the consultation

Confidential conversation about your family, assets, and goals
Review of any existing estate planning documents
Discussion of options — will-based plan, trust-based plan, companion documents
Identification of issues that need attention (outdated beneficiary designations, missing companion documents, business succession gaps)
Recommendation of an approach
Discussion of fees and timeline

After the consultation

If you decide to engage the firm, we send a written engagement letter setting out the scope and fee. We then prepare draft documents, walk you through each one, refine based on your feedback, and schedule a signing session with appropriate witnesses and a notary. Funding any trust component requires retitling specific assets, which we walk you through.

What to bring to your consultation

A short version of the above:

The asset inventory from Section 2
Existing estate planning documents from Section 3
Beneficiary designation list from Section 4
Family information from Section 1
Trusted persons list from Section 6
A short list of your goals and concerns

You don't need everything perfect. Bring what you have; we can fill in the rest.

Next step

We are happy to meet to talk through your situation and propose an approach.

Schedule a consultation: 713-955-4045 · znp@praslalaw.com

IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICES

The information in this kit is for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading this kit does not create an attorney-client relationship. Estate planning is fact-specific and laws change. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.

Prasla Law Firm PLLC · 800 Bonaventure Way, Suite 154, Sugar Land, Texas 77479

Attorney Advertising. Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.