Others feel that estate planning involves written instructions through a will or trust that directs their assets to specific family members, friends or charities. Both can be considered as estate planning. However, both have one issue in common with the other. In order to implement either as an estate plan, you must accurately know what are your assets, the valuation of each asset, and the exact ownership of each asset.
Estate planning is like trying to load a moving van with the contents from a warehouse.
The warehouse is full of boxes that belong to different people. The boxes are different in sizes, weight, and some may be more fragile than others. The warehouse would have to be inventoried in order to load the van with the right boxes. The first step in your estate planning is to prepare an inventory of your warehouse of assets. There are various options to use in preparing your asset inventory.